


Super Secret Journal: Skull's Do Not Touch Unless You Are Skull

by KidWestHope16



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Amnesia, BAMF Enma, BAMF Oodako, BAMF Skull (Reborn), Character Death, Child Experimentation, Godfather Bermuda, Immortal Skull (Reborn), Immortality, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Nono has a lot of shit to answer for, Not Really Character Death, Oodako is The Kraken, Past Character Death, Reborn always wanted family, Reborn is Skull's father, Runaway Skull, Skull is nineteen years old, Skull used to be a Sun, Skull won't take anymore of Reborn's abuse, Skull's guardian potential was destroyed by decades of mental abuse, Temporary Character Death, The Arcobaleno fail as a team, Varia quality Enma, Varia quality Skull, Verde confirms the truth, Vongola tried to cage Skull, Xanxus and Enma bond over their concern for Skull, Xanxus is on Skull's side, he tried courting Skull, no one knew, not a team as a family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-06-26 06:24:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15657576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KidWestHope16/pseuds/KidWestHope16
Summary: Skull finds out on accident that Reborn is his father an bolts. Oodako won't let Reborn near Skull, and Xanxus was warned by his intuition that Skull would need help slipping away. He gives him access to Varia equipment and let him run. He won't let anyone abuse Skull anymore, surprisingly he isn't alone. Enma worries about Skull enough to demand an audience with the Varia leader.





	1. The Shadows Of This World Will Try To Steal You Away into Their Arms

**Author's Note:**

> So my sleep deprived brain actually posted this draft that I wrote down real quick before the idea could fade from my mind. Sorry. This is actually a multi-chapter fic. I'll update the rest of this chapter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skull was tired of being the weakest, he was tired of being mistreated for simply existing. Why couldn't anyone understand that he was still part of the I Prescelti Sette, the strongest seven?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title: Dearly Beloved- Amalee cover

Skull silently took the abuse handed to him by the others. What else was he good for? It might not seem fair, especially when taking into account that he'd been facing this abuse for nearly three decades. Where was he going with this again? Oh, right, he was getting everyone something to eat and drink. The curse was broken, and everyone was aging as they should with the exception of Skull who was stuck looking like a ten year old despite being thirteen. It wasn't his fault that he was short for his age, he had many a time when he couldn't afford to eat. The circus hadn't been making enough money and sacrifices had to be made so Skull always volunteered to go without food to keep the animals fed. He cherished the animals for doing no wrong when so many had caused harm to him for simply existing.

"Lackey, stop daydreaming." Skull flinched nearly dropping the latte he had balanced on a silver tray and passed it over to the surly teen that was twice his height and weight.

"I'd like to run a few more tests on everyone before the night's end." Verde spoke suddenly adjusting his glasses with an ominous look on his face. Skull resigned himself to being experimented on again, He was pretty much resigned to everything. There was no point in fighting anymore. He was just the lackey.

A civilian dragged into the mafia with no clue about anything.

Strongest Cloud in the world but also the weakest.

Always overlooked, always hated... Always hurt... A pushover. One that death would not accept into it's warm embrace.  
Not that he ever purposely killed himself, he just didn't struggle when he should or even relaxed in the face of death.  
That wasn't exactly normal was it?  
  
  


Most of the tests were on Skull, they were humiliating. Not that he had anymore shame or dignity. Surprisingly he'd actually had a little of both despite being a stuntman. Reborn was quick to make him lose both in order to survive being near him.

"That's enough Skull. Go shower and come back, I'll be drawing blood next. Everyone else line up." Verde muttered under his breath about everyone aging differently and needing more tests.  
Skull stripped and quickly gave himself a quick scrub down feeling the goosebumps on his flesh as he saw various scars. He shuddered as he patted his face dry to see his own feature. He deserved this.  
"Freak..." Skull whispered touching his cheek where he'd been stabbed in the face as a child. He quickly slapped a bandaid on his face and sped through applying his make up to hide his feature.  
The wonders of make up, transforming people into new ones with a simple application.  
He looked at his helmet and sighed knowing he couldn't wear it, it didn't fit. And no one would allow him to keep buying new ones to fit, they simply forced him to go without his security blanket. They didn't care that he was uncomfortable not having his face covered.  
"Lackey!" Skull flinched away from the mirror and rushed out of the bathroom tripping and slamming face first into the floor where he bit clean though his tongue.

No one asked if he was alright, no one came to check on him. They simply scoffed.  
He could feel his eyes burn with the need to cry. He was the crybaby, they expected nothing less from him.  
Skull pushed back the tears forcing his face into a smile, he was a show man.  
"Silly Skull-sama tripped." Skull laughed as he used the towel around his neck to mop up the blood until his tongue finished healing.  
No one was even looking his way, they were clutching cotton balls to their inner elbows. Skull rolled up his long sleeve glad that Verde never cared enough to ask about the scars and that everyone had already filed out. How long would it be before they found out about his scars and forced him to display them all while mocking him for being weak.  
"Skull!" Verde barked angrily nearly scaring Skull into clenching his muscles. Oh, he was done and Skull had spaced out.  
"You're anemic, go eat something and take triple the dose of the vitamins and minerals I gave everyone. Your cloud flames burn right through them so I need to up your dosage." Verde said dismissively as he took the blood vials and wandered off. Skull pressed his arms over his stomach. Oh, yeah, he was supposed to be taking pills.  
Pills that would help him, not hurt him. But how could he, when all Verde has ever done was cause him harm?  
Skull swallowed the pills and drank three glasses of water and ate an apple. Would he get in trouble for eating the apple? No one ever cared if he survived off water, but food was always a touchy thing. It was everyone's favorite form of punishment, Reborn had only started denying him food the last decade.

  
Skull peered into his room with suspicion as he slowly made his way in looking around with wary eyes. Oodako waved at him from the tank he had set up giving him the all clear while pointing to the corner that had dismantled traps. His heart fell at the amount of traps everyone set up to humiliate him. All under the guise of training him not to be useless and training themselves to get back into shape.  
"Don't worry Oodako, we'll disappear soon enough. They won't be able to find their toy, we'll be safe..." Skull wanted to laugh, he'd never felt safe unless he was doing death defying stunts that could kill him.  
One more month of this, and the three months that they had to spend together would end.

Skull slipped into his closet and curled up into a loose ball to rest, he didn't sleep much these days. It was hard to when he was burning as he grew slowly and aged even slower. The fear of trying to get away from the mafia even though Bermuda told him that he was free to do as he pleased now that the curse was broken. His only tie to the mafia had been the curse, but how would he get by in the world.  
It's been forty years, he had no education, no form of employment, was legally declared dead after having been missing for ten years. All his worldly possessions had come with him to the meetings they first had and had been destroyed by Reborn, Verde and later on Colonnello.  
He had nothing.  
This was just like being kidnapped off the streets at nine and being experimented on until he faked his death and escapes into the world only to join a circus at thirteen.  
The isolation was probably the worst. They weren't allowed visitors. Verde said that all their immune systems were compromised so they'd been banned from any visitors. Not that Skull had any visitors.  
He had no one to call his own and no one would ever claim him.  
He'd never bonded to Luce no matter how much she tried. Aria couldn't hold him even though he finally learned about bonding and tried. And Yuni, precious Yuni who hadn't been tainted by the others view of him. Softly explained that she already had a cloud and couldn't be his, he hadn't cried that hard in years. Yuni hadn't known what to do, Skull had solved that for her. He smiled and promised to protect her until her cloud arrived. He distanced himself, that has been a mistake.

She'd been tainted by everyone's view of him just as Aria had. He lost his friend.  
He'd lost Viper after they found a Sky in Xanxus. And he was left alone after that.


	2. I'm Better Off On My Own Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Verde was sitting on information that he hadn't informed anyone of. The contemplating looks he shot Skull and Reborn was quite telling. Skull was used to the speculative looks and ignored them in favor of keeping his sanity, that was a mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyric: I am an outsider- three days Grace

Skull looked at his breakfast and withheld a sigh when he saw that he only had a glass of apple juice and a pile of pills he had to take. It was a toss up on who ate his food. He should stop washing the dishes after he cooked, it only lead to this. No food despite having just cooked for everyone, what else did he expect? Viper, no, Mammon, slid a plate with toast and jam his way before walking away with a phone in hand. Skull didn't bother to hide his tears. He missed Viper.  
He missed Yuni.  
He was alone. So very alone in this great, terrible, world.  
  
  
  
Skull was doing sit ups in his room when the next growth spurt happened. How did the others handle this? The pain only started after he became ten years old again.  
He was blindsided by pain and a violent heat like molten lava tore through his veins as he choked and writhed in agony. He distantly heard the door slam open but was too busy trying to breathe to look. He was turned onto his side and pushed into the fetal position by gentle maneuvering. His hair was brushed back and he knew who this was.  
Oodako was always so gentle with him.

The world went dark as his muscles locked and the world began to shake apart.  
  
  
Reborn was passing by the Lackey's room when he heard a choked off cry of pain and something hit the floor. He slammed open the door and found Skull lying on his back gripping his chest as he began sweating. His cheeks were flushed a bright red as he struggled to breathe. The sweat evaporated as his flames burst out of him.  
  
"Someone get Verde!" Reborn called out as he rushed into the room only to be slammed back out into the Hall by Oodako. The small octopod that had been swimming frantically in it's tank exploded out and slammed a tentacle into his chest which sent him flying into the wall opposite of the Lackey's room. Reborn watched as the octopus gently maneuvered it's owner onto his side gently brushing his hair. Verde was beside him as was Mammon when he climbed to his feet.  
  
  
  
Skull was burning and in a lot of pain, none of them had gone through a growth spurt like this. What was happening to their Cloud? Mammon was the only one allowed in the room when Skull began seizing in Oodako's grasp. If looks could kill then Oodako might have murdered Verde and Reborn by now.  
Mammon kneeled down and rested their palm on Skull's burning forehead before hissing as they pulled their hand back. Mammon jerked back when glazed amethyst eyes peered up at them in confusion. Like he was surprised that someone was actually beside him.  
That stung a little bit.  
Sure they all wanted to be alone when they were going through a growth spurt but if something was wrong then they wouldn't leave someone behind.  
"'S-s-s-s normal..." Skull hissed choking back another cry of pain. Mammon watched as Skull's hair grew his side burns curling slightly before his hands latched onto the sides of his face digging his growing nails into his skin.  
Oodako began moving suddenly which startled Mammon until they realized where Oodako was heading. Mammon stood up with a pit in their stomach as they opened the bathroom door. Skull was gently deposited in it the bathtub and the water was turned on as Oodako climbed in to cradle Skull's head above the water.  
"Cold!" Skull cried out as he was submerged in the ice cold water he began thrashing as he attempted to escape but Oodako simply shifted him and any of his escape attempts were brushed aside.  


The growth spurt passed and Skull had a meltdown.  
He screamed and destroyed his entire room alongside Oodako, who, as always obeyed Skull's hand and finger movements. All he did was scream, inarticulate screams of rage, as he went on a rampage none had ever seen let alone thought him capable of.  
Verde tried sedating him but that only incensed Skull to the point of breaking his bed and attempting to spear anyone who so much as set a foot in his room.  
The rampage lasted for six hours.  
Nothing remained of the room, bathroom or closet. Strangely enough, he hadn't touched the door despite slamming into the walls and breaking the widows.  
"Skull." Colonnello watched the dazed Cloud stare through him before falling to his knees looking at thw glass scattered across the floor. He made an aborted move to touch his hair before reaching down and grabbing onto a piece of glass. Colonnello jerked forward when Skull raised the glass to his face and found himself slammed into the wall. Skull was stoically cutting off his hair. The long purple hair falling to chunks on the bedroom floor. Soon enough Skull's hair was chopped short in uneven spikes but similar to his usual hairstyle.  
"Skull." This time he caught the Cloud's attention. His eyes so dead and empty instantly filled with dread and fear even as he averted his gaze and hunched his shoulders. Trembling hands were folded tightly against his stomach even as a grin stretched across his lips.  
"It seems that Skull-sama has been remiss in his duties. Lunch should be ready in thirty minutes." Skull's eyes never once met his even as he stepped past glass and shattered wood as if nothing were in his way. Colonnello reached out to grab hold of Skull's shoulder as he made to pass but flinched away when Skull flinched away. He lowered his hand and watched the red tentacle that had been seconds away from smacking him gently caress Skull's head with a loving pat. 

Skull ducked his head in shame as his stomach growled loudly even as he set about making something simple to eat. His room was destroyed, and he blacked out. He hasn't had a black out since he was thirteen years old the last time. He'd been so full of anger he had several black outs and went on rampages. The only reason the circus hadn't kicked him out was because they didn't know about his black outs. He was able to feel them coming and made it a point to wander as far away as humanly possible to avoid hurting anyone.  
They were going to be so angry with him.  
Would he be allowed to eat? He only had toast twice these past three days. Maybe, maybe if he ate some fish that he has ordered for Oodako he'd- no! He wouldn't deprive Oodako of food. He was only allotted a certain amount of food for Oodako.  
Skull dished out the plates feeling his heart sink with dread when he caught sight of everyone at the table. They never sat down together like this.  
"Lackey. Sit." Ordered Reborn as he adjusted the brim of his fedora. Lal was staring at him with a calculating look in her eyes especially when his hands began to shake. He set the plates down and sat heavily on his designated chair beside Fon and Mammon.

  
Fon watched him with an unreadable look on his face and Mammon was texting someone on their phone. Skull pulled on his skills as a show man and relaxed despite the nervous energy clawing it's way to the surface.  
"Skull, what happened." Verde demanded flatly with a clipboard and pen set before him. Skull's brows furrowed in confusion. Did, did this not happen to anyone else?  
"I don't know?" Skull whispered softly tensing when he heard the click of a gun. He didn't dare move let alone breathe when he sighted the gun out of the corner of his eye. Reborn was furious.  
"Lackey, what the hell happened and don't lie! You said it's normal." Skull heard a crash upstairs when he began to nervously tap his fingers across his arm. He tucked his hands under his knees and sat up straight even as he nervously glanced around the room.  
"It... hurts... Since last week... It always hurts... I thought..." Skull winced as a strong hand clamped down on his shoulder.  
"It doesn't hurt for any of us. Why didn't you tell anyone?" Fon asked releasing his shoulder when Skull began to leaning away from him. Skull felt confused that anyone would want to know he was in pain. They'd never cared before, they'd been the reason he was in pain.  
"But... No one cares. You always tell me to suck it up." Skull froze under the glare Verde pinned him down with. What had he done wrong?! Verde's scrutinizing look left him to briefly stare at Reborn before he seemed to come to some conclusion. He snorted softly under his breath as he took some notes. Oh. He just wanted to perform more experiments.  
  
  
  
Fon watched Skull relax as Verde went into what Skull once called 'Mad scientist mode' that didn't explain why he relaxed. His stomach growled angrily as if it was a ferocious beast but Skull made no sign that he even heard or felt it. He simply continued staring at Verde as if waiting for something.  
"Skull eat." Skull looked confused at the command from Mammon and hesitantly picked up his fork to eat the chicken salad he'd made. He kept pausing and looking around even as another handed slowly wrapped around the bowl and pulled it closer.  
"No one is going to take your food." Fon spoke softly afraid to startle the nervous Cloud. Skull tensed as he wrapped his arm more tightly around the bowl. He looked like a deer caught in headlights as he froze with his fork Midway to his mouth.  
Was someone depriving Skull of food? Skull's stomach growled again but he didn't move a muscle as he stared at Fon. Fon remembers how those who couldn't find work in the Triad ended up starving.  
Their thin limbs, bloated bellies and gaunt faces. Skull looked thin.  
And so very small.  
He didn't look like a child of thirteen, his skittishness made him seem so frightened of the world. Maybe his past was influencing him now? Fon averted his gaze to see that everyone was watching their conversation now. He sighed and turned away completely to go back to his meal hoping the others would do the same. Little by little they did and Skull resumed his meal.  
"When you're done head down to the labs." Verde called out as he left the table with a small stumble as he had yet to get use to his new height. Verde was actually the second youngest looking. He only looked fourteen despite being sixteen. They were all aging differently and at first he attributed it to their flame types but...  
What if something was wrong.  
The fact that Skull was in pain when he grew a year was glaringly obvious that something was wrong. The only ones that looked their ages were Reborn and Lal, both being eighteen. Colonnello as well as himself also looked younger than their sixteen years of age but he had always been a short child due to not enough food being around. He doesn't know about Mammon but they said they were the height and weight they should be for someone their age at seventeen.  
  
  
Once it was just himself and Mammon left at the dining table Fon knew he could ask questions without Skull freaking out.  
"How old are you now Skull?" Skull peered at him then looked down at the pills in his hand. He swallowed them gagging as he drank down the orange juice and water without answering him. He gagged again as he forced himself to drink more water. His face was ready and he looked ready to throw up everything he'd eaten. 

  
"Four-fourteen." Skull looked ten years old. Younger seeing that all his clothes fit very loose on him despite the multiple layers of shirts that he wore. Mammon would bet that Skull was thin underneath the full leather outfit he wore so religiously. The make up made him seem more filled out and his fingers so thin and long looked wider when he wore his gloves.  
He looked as if a strong wind would blow him away. The slightest tap could break him.  
Skull pushed himself away from the table squirming the slightest to reach the floor. He quietly began gathering the plates and Mammon was left with the realization that Xanxus had been right. Skull was being treated like a butler, worse than that, a slave.  
"I'll do the dishes for five thousand." Skull looked up startled before his eyes glinted with the smallest spark of genuine happiness that was smothered by a helpless smile.  
"I don't have anymore money, senpai used it all and I can't get a job yet." He shrugged as if to say 'what can you do?' he resumed his mindless task or rather be tried to, Mammon reached out to him.  
"Just this once I'll let you off the hook. Head down to Verde's lab and make sure he finds a reason for what happened earlier. If he doesn't I'll charge him three times his debt." Mammon whispered viscously as they took their hand back from where it briefly rested in the scarred flesh of Skull's hand.  
"I..." Skull searched their gaze but said nothing as he yanked his sleeve down over his hands and shoved his hands into his pockets. His lips twitched into an awkward but genuine smile that actually made him look adorable, especially when Mammon could see he was missing his canines.  
"Get out if here before I change my mind." Mammon grumbled irritated at the reminder that Skull was actually a sweet kid pulled into a spectacular mess of a life.  


  
  
Verde had only found out by mistake. He had noticed some anomalies in Skull's blood and checked the others to see if they had any similar abnormalities. It was then that he saw that half if Skull's DNA was similar to Reborn's.  
But that wasn't important now. Although from what he'd witnessed in Skull's room, those ridiculous side burns were actually inheritable.  
No! Back to his original train of thought. Someone had genetically altered Skull. His body was going through withdrawal which accounted for 75 percent of his symptoms. That left 25 percent of it unknown.  
That meant tests. But with Skull's fragile mental state of mind he had to be careful.  
Verde looked up when he heard something fall behind him and found Skull collapsed face down on the floor. Verde looked at his wrist watch and strooled over to him reaching down for the thin wrist to feel for a pulse. There wasn't one.  
Seconds after he realized that, Skull's flames ignited covering him and he woke up. He sat up gingerly as if everything ached but didn't make a sound.

"Did you just die and come back." Verde asked frankly, Skull frowned at him confusion on his face.  
"I'm immortal, I told everyone." He explained simply not understanding why Verde would ever doubt the truth.  
Verde had thought it was the stuntman's ego talking. But if he was actually immortal, that explained so much. How he was able to endure so much abuse from Colonnello and Reborn. How he walked away without permanent damage from his experiments and the times he drugged his food. Although seeing how Reborn or even Colonnello sometimes stole his food, he realized that Skull probably ate the food knowing it would kill him just to fill his belly.  
He yanked Skull into a standing position leaving the small Cloud to stand on the tips of his toes as Verde towered over him. The look of fear in his young face sparked the slightest but of sympathy that was ruthlessly smothered as he pulled the Cloud into his lab.  
"You're going to tell me everything." Skull broke free rubbing his wrist which was swollen from how tight he'd held it. Verde held out his hand already knowing Skull would obey him thanks to the twisted way Reborn and Colonnello trained the civilian out of him.  
"No." Skull stood his ground trembling from head to toe but his teeth were bared in a parody of a smile. Verde remembered that he had to contend with Skull's fragile state of mind and sighed heavily.  
"Very well, follow me. I have a lot of tests to run." He heard the Cloud stumble after him trying to keep up with his longer stride.  



	3. I Had Always Thought I'd Grow Up, My Heart Would Get Warmer, So I Wouldn't Have To Bear This Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The contemplating looks Verde shot him as if he were to blame irritated Reborn to no end. He hadn't touched the Cloud since the day he accidentally gave him a concussion after kicking him in the head.  
> But the stares had him watching the smaller teen, the feelings that stirred in his gut confused him. He felt the urge to protect him, he felt a familiarity with him.  
> He'd never know the Cloud as a child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyric: It's like a tiny bit of light- Erased ending, cover by Dima Lancaster

Skull was tucked into a ball sitting on the floor beside Verde's chair with his desk at his back when Reborn came to check on them. He was pouting and fiddling with a rubix cube. He solved it in under a minute before scrambling it again.

"Skull, start laps again until I tell you to stop." Skull paused and set the rubix cube down with a mournful look on his sad dropping face. He stood up removing a short and long sleeve shirt leaving him wearing a simple long sleeve and kicked off his slippers.  
He froze at the sight of Reborn, glancing uncertainly at Verde over his shoulder as he began edging towards the left of Verde. Verde continued typing away on his laptop absently opening a drawer and tossing a bundle to Skull.  


"Drink that and set up the electrodes." Skull caught the bundle without once breaking his staring contest with Reborn. Something about that look if unease seemed familiar, not because he'd made the Lackey uneasy before. No, it was something else. It tickled the back of his mind as he looked away and walked over to Verde.

"Did you find anything?" Verde glanced at him over his shoulder with a look of irritation. He quirked an eyebrow at him then dismissed him as he went back to the notes on his clipboard, checking them against what was on his laptop. He growled as he tore the paper off his clipboard crumpling it into a ball that was tossed to the side where he could see was a large pile of similarly crumpled pieces of paper.  
"Pace yourself Skull!" Barked Verde as another laptop showed signs of activity in the form of fluctuating wave length. The wave length steadied for several minutes before falling flat.  
"Dammit! I said pace yourself not kill yourself!" Verde roared as he lost his temper and stormed into the adjoining room. Reborn followed quickly to see Skull lying flat on the floor several feet away from a jogging machine. Verde was kneeling beside him eyes his watch as he setup a camera and pointed it at Skull...  
Who wasn't breathing!  
Reborn had only just taken a step closer when Skull was engulfed by his flames and sat up heaving as he curled over his knees clutching his stomach. He coughed a few times before gagging, Verde crouched in front of him holding out a water bottle.  
"Seven minutes. You were out for less than a minute." Skull accepted the water once he could catch his breath without gagging.  
"Pull ups or sit ups next." Verde calmly walked over to the camera and reviewed the footage with a smug smirk at his foresight.

"He died..." Verde glanced back at Reborn as he set up another camera and pointed it at Skull who was doing pull ups with ease.  
"Your point?" Verde queried challenging Reborn with a simple flick of the wrist. The Sun glowered already knowing he would need to ask Verde. He didn't get to order Verde in his domain.  
He was God here.  
"Why?" The Sun ground out fingers itching to grab hold of his chameleon only to realize too late that the chameleon had abandoned him to sit upon the bar Skull was using. It clearly unnerved the Cloud, who tried his best to lean his face away from the bar only to have it backfire as the chameleon leapt onto his head.  
"You should claim that pet of yours. Skull doesn't need anymore stres-"He paused as Skull's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell limply to the floor.  
Hmm, he was still breathing.  
Fainted?  
No, his breathing was slowing down. He fell asleep.  


"Insomnia? Not enough melatonin. A supplement perhaps." Verde murmured under his breath as he shoved his arms beneath Skull's knees and the back of his head before standing up bringing the Cloud with him. He laid the unconscious Cloud down on a bench and plucked chameleon off of Skull's chest. Verde continued muttering under his breath as he checked Skull's vitals.  
  
  
Leon was tossed his way with a flick of the wrist.  
"Someone else should cook dinner. This one's going to be out for the next eight hours." Verde hummed thoughtfully as he peeled back Skull's eyelid.  
Face slack with sleep instead of fear or stress, Skull almost looked serene.  
"What's wrong with the Lackey?" Reborn asked flatly as the younger teen rolled over and curled into a ball with one hand tucked under his head the other curled into a loose fist under his chin. Was he self soothing? Reborn felt his eyebrows raise upwards in surprise.  
"His sleeping position varies. Sometimes he sleeps like the dead, and sometimes he sleeps on his side with his arms stretched out." Verde told him in an absent minded way as he removed the electrodes attached to Skull's face and upper body with a gentleness that surprised him. Verde didn't even seem to notice as he continued muttering under his breath about this and that.  
  
  
  
Mammon set down the bowl of pasta down beside Skull's head and watched him sleep. His make up was smudged as he rubbed his eye sleepily but otherwise he looked the same as always. Something about Skull's make up bothered Mammon but they couldn't seem to pinpoint what it was that seemed off.  
"Skull's body is failing. Bermuda's notes say that those Arcobaleno that didn't transform into Vindice began dying slowly. Most all of them Clouds with exception of a few mists and and one unlucky sun. The occasional Sky managed to survive as well." Mammon felt their heart clench in pain.

  
  
"Our generation is the only one that lasted longer than a decade. The other Clouds either went feral or fell into discord nearly destroying the Harmony of the I Prescelti Sette. We have Skull to thank for that not happening." Verde spoke softly to avoid waking up the Lackey. Reborn watched Mammon hover slightly beside the Cloud before taking a few hurried steps back.  
He stayed out of both Verde and Mammon's line of sight to continue spying on them.  
"Did it have anything to do with his status as a civilian or an inverted Cloud?" He heard cloth shifting and realized that Verde had shrugged. He didn't know the answer, and he doubted he'd be able to find one.

"There has never been a Cloud that was both inverted and a civilian. It might have been both of these attributes. But even then the other Clouds only lasted a few years." Someone was tapping their foot in a slow steady beat.  
"Could this be the 25 percent I was looking for? If I can fix the rest... Skull might have a chance." Verde blew right past him as he ran to his desk. He tripped twice and smashed his hip into the desk but paid it no mind as he sat down and began typing at a rapid pace. He scribbled on paper after paper as he studied the test results he had regarding Skull. Mammon was standing beside him watching him with a pensive frown on their face.  
"It seems that we all owe a debt to Skull for keeping us alive all these years." They stated blankly as they walked away.  
Reborn watched Skull sleep and felt a strong wave of nostalgia that nearly brought him to his knees. Why did he feel as if he knew the Lackey when they had no prior meetings. Something about him keep triggering memories he wanted buried. The sight of the civilian had always annoyed him but it wasn't until he had removed his helmet the first time that Reborn began to hate him.  
"Who are you Skull De Mort?" The Cloud didn't answer him, sleeping on as if he was at peace for once.  
"Lal! Colonnello! I need your flames!" Verde called out into the intercom. Reborn walked away from the sleeping child without a backwards glance.  
Verde caught him before he could leave and told him to part with some if his Flames. Reborn followed the order, Skull's sleeping face on his mind.  
  
  
  
  
"Just hold him still and don't let him wake up. This will be painful, but fixing this might make it so his flames stop trying to rip his body apart as he ages." Verde triple checked his notes before gesturing for Colonnello take a step forward. Colonnello lowered his hands to the sides of Skull's head then began using the tranquility of his flames to keep Skull asleep, while Lal pinned his thin wrists to the table and released intermittent pulses of tranquility to keep Skull's muscles from tensing if he were to suddenly awaken.  
Mammon watched all this with a heavy heart.  
Fon didn't understand why this flame transfusion was necessary but he trusted that Verde knew what he was doing.  
Reborn crossed his arms over his chest as he scrutinized the Lackey's face. He looked familiar, but his make up did well in obscuring his features. He'd just have to catch the Lackey without his make up.  
Verde looked down at Skull silently even as he positioned a syringe over his heart.  
"Skull was part of the civilians that were abducted and had their flames forcibly changed." Verde uttered in a monotone voice. That was news to everyone.  
Out if the two hundred civilians taken off the streets only five survived. Two adults and three teenagers, but Skull was a child when that happened. How old did that make him now if he was a survivor that no one had known about.  
The light glinted off Verde's glasses as he raised the syringe high into the air, his smirk hid nothing.  
"He was a sun, I just have to force his body to recognize his sun flames and that will kick start the activation. It'll purge out whatever doesn't belong and his Cloud flames will speed up the process." Verde stabbed the syringe of sun flames directly into Skull's chest earning frowns of disapproval from the two Rains.  



	4. Appearing Young While I'm Growing Older

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All he knew was pain. No one was helping him, they just stood by and watched.  
> Like always.  
> But then why did he not feel as alone as before?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyric: Nightmare- Set It Off  
> 

There was a moment of stillness before Skull's eyes snapped open. Colonnello froze as he kept a steady stream of his flames directed to Skull's head. He didn't dare look away when Skull's eyes began to glow. He was deafened by howls of agony as the young Cloud began writhing in pain. Lal hopped onto the table and sat upon his knees to keep them from kicking and leaned her entire weight forward to pin the thrashing Cloud down.

  


He began twisting underneath Lal but she kept him pinned. Lal only had a second to feel dread when Skull's legs locked around her throat as he twisted and shoved her off of him.  
The second her weight was off his, Skull's hands clamped down on Colonnello's wrists and yanked his hands away from him. Lal watched Colonnello's eyes widen as he looked away from her and down at Skull with fear.  
He pulled his arms free slamming one hand down onto Skull's forehead and the other over his chest. He poured every bit of his flames into slowing the Cloud down.  
Lal hit the ground back first and used the momentum to roll backwards so that she landed on her feet. She jumped back onto the Cloud, ready for him this time. She followed Colonnello's lead and flooded her flames into Skull's body.  
  
  
Colonnello was forced to hold one hand to Skull's forehead and use the other to pin his chest down when Lal was actually pulled off the thrashing Cloud. Colonnello hadn't even seen what Skull did but Lal was sent flying away, her face slack with shock as she vanished from his sight.  
She was only down for seconds before she was back on her feet. She leapt onto the table and pinned Skull down, snarling as he tried to push her away again.  
She flooded his body with her flames. The screams cut off and Skull fell silent and still. Verde appeared at their side peeling back Skull's eyelids. His pupils were dilated and unfocused as Verde slapped his cheek to get his attention. He kept his hand on Skull's cheek, gripping the cheek harshly to ground him.  
"Sorry." He slurred eyes losing their luster and glow as tears slipped down the sides of his face. Verde's harsh grip on Skull's cheek softened to a feather light touch.  
"I'm not doing this to hurt you. Stop fighting it, I'm fixing what those ignorant scientists did to you." Verde spoke softly meeting Skull's eyes with his own, something seemed to pass between them as Skull relaxed.  
"It's just another test." Verde nodded as he pulled out a syringe and withdrew some blood.  
"Don't be shocked if he dies, leave him be." Verde ordered walking away without a care.  
"Hold it, Kora! What do you mean if he die-" Colonnello looked down when Skull abruptly stopped breathing.

Mammon was beside Skull in an instant, cradling his head in their hands as they peeled back his eyelids.  
No reaction.  
Mammon could see Colonnello pulling back his flames.  
Their fingers gently moved to the pale throat.  
There was no pulse.  
Lal jumped off Skull but kept a hold of his wrists with a look of dread.  
They checked his breathing, hands trembling as they pressed against the small chest.  
They could feel Skull's ribs, there was no movement.  
  
  
  
When Mammon moved to start CPR, Reborn was beside the Esper pulling them away from Skull. There was no time for CPR, it's been two minutes now. What if this time Skull didn't come back, he thought as he slammed his hands onto Skull's chest pouring sun flames into the inert body.

Reborn only felt the slightest of shocks when his flames were accepted and drawn upon by Skull. He took a step back as Skull began to breathe again, just as he had last night.  
How did none of them realize Skull was telling the truth when he said he was immortal?  
How often did he die?  
By their hands.  
By his.  
Reborn jerked back when Skull's Cloud/Sun flames brushed against his own. He tightly reeled back his own Flames scowling at the Lackey for attempting to be so familiar with him.  
Even so, those flames felt similar to his, well of course they did. He offered Skull some of his flames, that's why they were so familiar.  


  
  
Verde grunted in dismay, how blind did they all have to be? How many hints did he have to drop?! Of course Skull wouldn't notice, he didn't want to. But what about everyone else? Did he have to spell it out for them?  
Flame transfusions can't be done on strangers or guardians of the same Sky, not that Skull ever bonded to a Sky.  
Flame transfusions could only be done on family in the rare exception of a flame user that had the same flame type and carried the same flame wave. Those mists of the Vongola Decimo were the first in over fifteen years to share the same Flame wave.

This wasn't something that he could just drop onto their laps. Skull would never accept this, given the history he had shared with Verde. Skull would rather live in denial forever.  
Reborn wouldn't appreciate the truth, he'd fight this and he'd take it out on the one person who shouldn't have to endure anymore pain.  
Skull would take it, and the longer it took for Reborn to realize the truth the more destroyed he'd be when he finally drew his own conclusions.  
Skull not wearing his make-up will probably be the easiest way for Reborn to see the truth. They looked eerily similar, it was a shame that Skull was always in Dying Will mode, having his natural hair and eyes color would prove he was without a doubt Reborn's biological child. If he could suppress Skull's flames, no, that wouldn't work. Skull used them nearly every minute of everyday. It would cause a lot more harm to even think of doing that.  


Hair dye?  
That wouldn't work either, Skull's flames would neutralize the dye before it even set.  
Verde paused as he examined the blood sample and compared it to blood sample from before. It was working. Skull's sun flames would never be pure, or particularly strong. But his Cloud flames propagated their ability and that's all that matters now. This was going to save his life.  
He'd likely been in pain this whole time even without the added pain of being forced to age, how could he stand it? He must have had a massive pain tolerance.

He was going to be free of pain for the first time in what would probably be forty years.  
That did raise the question of how old their youngest member was. He knows that Lal and Colonnello were both 28 and 25, with Reborn being the oldest at 34. Fon, was either 28 or 29 years old to his 26. Viper's age was harder to pinpoint but he was sure the Esper was younger than Reborn and older than the rest of them.  
At first when they met him Verde pinned him at a solid twenty, twenty three. They were all nearly the same age, why would the civilian be a child or teen. Now, looking at the docile way the Cloud seemed to boast about himself, it made Verde think he was younger. The ridiculous habit of always wearing his helmet, gloves, knee high steel toed boots and full leather body suit had done wonders to fool them all.  
His load boasting that drew attention to his inexperience and fear had only drawn their scorn, not sympathy. It had been a cry for help.  
The first of many ignored so callously by them all.  
He was just a kid compared to them.  
One that they'd done their best to beat into submission because he was a civilian and acted nothing like a Cloud.  
"That's what you meant. Bermuda Von VeckenSchtein, go back now that your only ties have been broken." Verde scoffed, the looks he shot Reborn then Skull had been full of meaning that no one had understood.  
Skull was dense, he'd never realize the true message he tried to deliver. Just how did Bermuda know Skull's parentage when none of them had.

  
  
  
  


Skull woke up, just like that. He was wide awake.  
Something was off, in a good way for once. Skull was in his room, that was no longer destroyed. With a new bed...  
He rolled off his bed and began scouring the room for traps, mics, cameras but came up empty. His attention was drawn towards where Oodako's tank usually sat and saw a brand new tank with a bow on it. Oodako waved at him giving him the all clear.  
He sighed in relief, hand pressed to his chest as he sat down on the corner of the bed. He froze as he took a deep breath in and held it in for several seconds.  
He breathed in again and held his breath.  
Air rushed out of his mouth after nearly a minute and Skull marveled at the fact that he could breathe without any pain. Now the air purifier in his helmet was obsolete.  
"I can breathe." Skull giggled excitement in his voice as he scampered towards Oodako's tank. He wiggled his fingers and twirling his wrists this way and that, feeling the ease at which his hands moved. No aches or pains, no creaking of his bones.  
He hadn't felt this way since he was a very small child.  
Back when he'd still answered to Aelius.  
Skull hadn't been in the picture until much later on and by that time he didn't have a place to call his own.  
Just a borrowed sleeping space designated to him if he didn't sleep with the animals.  


  
  
Mammon cracked open the door to Skull's room to see the smaller teen was awake and chopping off his hair with irritation in every line of his body.  
"Always too long! And curly!" He hissed setting down a pocket knife. The smaller teen huffed in exasperation as he stomped his foot into the ground.  
"See, Oodako! This is why I have to cut my hair daily!" Mammon watched the red octopus sweep up the hair and deposit it into a metal bucket. Skull began styling his hair as he hummed under his breath. He seemed more alive than they'd seen in a long long time.  
A lit match was tossed over his shoulder and the hair was burned away leaving an empty bucket that Oodako placed in front of Skull.  
"I can't believe I slept for two days. That's the longest I've ever slept! I feel great! Was it sleeping for two days?" Skull hummed as he pulled on a hooded sweatshirt and pulled the hood over his head.  
"You did such good work looking after me, how about a treat~" Skull cooed as he showered his pet with affection. Mammon left the Cloud to praise the octopus in peace.  
  
  
  
Skull looked over his shoulder smile fixed to his face as he kept his hands on Oodako's bulbous head.  
"Their gone." He whispered softly feeling highly aware that he was not wearing makeup.  


Skull peered into Verde's lab and found the scientist asleep at his desk. Skull looked down at at his fingers as yellow intermingled with his amethyst fire. It looked nothing like the brilliant topaz that belonged to Reborn.  
"Don't just stand there Lackey." Skull whirled around heart in his throat as Reborn leaned against the doorway he'd been hiding behind. The taller teen radiated anger, flames rearing back and ready to burn him. Skull used to this now after facing this for years tucked his flames away and forced himself to stand tall even if everything in him told him to run.  
"Skull-sama didn't want to disturb anyone's sleep senpai!" Reborn's hand was wrapped around the neck of his hoody. Skull held up his hands as he balanced on his toes to avoid being choked or losing his hoody from the height difference that Reborn used as leverage to intimidate him.  
  
  
  
  
"Reborn out." Verde stated flatly yanking Skull behind him. He'd noticed that something about Skull set Reborn off. Now he knew why. Subconsciously, Reborn knew what Skull was to him and was lashing out at the thought of having missed out on his dream.  
Having a family of his own.  
The one confession he'd ever shared with them before the fated day.  
What had started out as disdain for a weak civilian had become broiling rage when the young Cloud had finally removed his helmet after the curse took hold.  
Skull had taken the brunt of their anger for years. More than that, he'd taken Reborn's frustration and sorrow.  
  
  
  
Lal watched Verde defend Skull with curiosity. Since the curse was broken and they were given the chance to return to their original ages, Mammon and Verde had begun to drift towards the Cloud. With Mammon it hadn't been a surprise, they'd gotten along surprisingly well. Mammon bonding to a Sky had driven a wedge between them and Skull had accepted the loss of friendship with only a shrug.  
Verde, he'd patched up the cloud most often after Reborn's anger got the best of him. She'd seen the look in his eyes regarding Skull. He'd only been a test subject, and yet somewhere in the past twenty years they had become acquaintances. Not allies or friends, just people forced to work together. It was give and take, yet this past week something had changed.  
Skull was being actively protected from Reborn by Oodako, Mammon and Verde. Everyone else was also being pushed away if they showed any signs of aggression towards the Cloud.


	5. They Want To Break Me And Wash Away My Colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skull was going through changes. It could be any number of things. There was no solid explanation Verde could give, no concrete proof to pin down what it was.  
> He did know that Skull was experiencing more cloud induced rages.  
> He also should be careful about the information he had on his laptop. Reborn finding out was something he had wanted, just not in this way. It was a definite pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyric: My Demons- Starset  
> Ahahahahaha! Everyone missed the spoiler I accidentally posted. Woke up in a cold sweat to delete it but it looks like no one caught it.  
> 

Fon sipped his tea with a pensive frown that wouldn't fade no matter how much he tried to center his self.  
Puberty was a pain.  
It made fools of them all.  
Especially Colonnello who pined after Lal harder than ever. Lal's composure broke more often than not as she stomped Colonnello beneath her feet.

It had been amusing hearing everyone's voice crack when they finally entered their teen years. Skull's face had been properly horrified. He cried that he was dying before calming down seconds later as he smacked his head.  
It hadn't been funny anymore when they realized he had no idea what was happening to his body and had been on his own the first time he went through puberty.  
Surprisingly Reborn had stepped up to educate the Cloud, he cited his experience as a teacher made him the most capable.  
They should have realized that would include the dangers of STDs. Skull, who never went anywhere without his gloves and helmet had been forced to abandon them due to their rapid growths spurts, began scrubbing his hands raw. Fon had never taken the cloud as a germaphobe. It was actually Lal's crass remarks about STDs only being passed through the exchange of body fluids that calmed him down. 

Fon glanced up at the near silent tread of someone sneaking into the kitchen. He watched Skull inch his way towards the cupboards with trepidation on every inch of his face. He couldn't see Fon hidden in the darkened corner even though he checked multiple times.  
"Go eat something Skull. You're skin and bones Skull. You're falling behind on the growth scale." Skull mocked under his breath even as his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach.  
"Other people need to eat. The kids needed food more than I did. So did the animals, they didn't deserve to go hungry. But no, it's Skull-sama's fault he doesn't eat." Skull froze glancing right at Fon before abruptly relaxing as Lichi came forward.  
"Don't scare me like that Lichi. I almost had a heart attack." Skull scolded the albino furred monkey as he scratched him behind the ears. His hair flopped into his eyes as he bent down to grab him, he blew his bangs out if his face with a frustrated breath.  
"What do you think, worth the wrath of senpai?" Lichi chittered in his ear and hopped off him and towards the cabinets. He pulled out a package and tossed it to Skull.  
"Biscuits?" Skull shoved the crinkling package under his shirt and shuffled back towards Verde's lab.  
"It's not for me, I won't get in trouble. I'm just playing messenger." The cloud muttered under his breath glancing every which way in paranoia.  


Fon waited until he was out of earshot before allowing himself to breathe. Lichi chattered at him about Skull needing more food as he pilfered some tea cookies and Colonnello's granola bars.  
"Make sure Colonnello knows you took it." Fon chided not wanting Skull to get into any trouble.  


  
Skull was sitting in bed eating the biscuits he'd stolen. Verde had let him use the lab bed to hide away from everyone when he began experiencing what Fon's nephew called crowding. Verde had been itching to study him, his cloud instincts were shifting, changing.  
One second he was fine with the tests being run, then he was smashing expensive equipment and wanting to be left alone. Verde said it could any number of things from mood swings of going through puberty, the introduction of his sun flames back into his system, going through a new childhood surrounded by so many active flames users as opposed to his former childhood of isolation, to going through the rare event called Flame burn out.  
Flame burn out was exactly what it implied, flames burned out. The flame user had their flames shift from inverted to classic or vice versa until their flames extinguished to the point that they were technically inactive. Those that experienced flame burn out were forcibly retired.  
Verde calmly explained that it would kill Skull who relied so heavily on his flames that he'd die, where as anyone else became crippled or mentally incapacitated.  
Skull growled as he curled possessively over the biscuits when someone entered the range of his vision. He relaxed when it was Keimen and Lichi. Both carrying water, juice and food respectively.  
"Verde wants more tests doesn't he." Skull collapsed back onto the bed, he whined as he rolled onto his side crushing the biscuits to his chest.  
"Test this, test that. Always the tests on Skull-sama. But does Skull-sama get a choice? Noooooo." Skull huffed as a granola bar was forcibly shoved into his cheek.  
"I have biscuits Lichi." Another granola bar was shoved into his forehead as the one on his cheek was shoved into his mouth that was just opened to complain. He sat up choking as the granola bar went down his throat triggering his gag reflex as he shot up into a sitting position.  
Once the coughing and gagging died down Skull, rubbing his throat with tears in his eyes, glared at Lichi. The small monkey had the audacity to look at him as if it were his fault!  


  
  
  
  
"Get out!" Roared Skull upending the bed he'd been sitting on to throw at Colonnello. Colonnello abandoned his anger of his stolen granola bars when he saw the metal bed's frame was warped from where it was embedded into the floor from the force Skull had used to throw it.  
"What part of his flames being unstable along with a chemical Imbalance in his brain do you idiots not understand?" Verde asked rhetorically from his desk as he examined the newest sample he'd obtained from Skull.

He fiddled with something in his hand every time he peered at the results. He paused as he turned around at the silence coming from the curtained area he made to establish a territory for Skull.  
"Four days without dying and the fourth rampage you go on today kills you?" Verde rubbed his eyes with a sigh. He marched to the curtained area and shoved the curtains aside to reveal Skull collapsed on his side with his eyes half closed. He wasn't moving or breathing.  
Verde set up a camera and kept on eye on his watch having pocketed the small device he'd been fiddling with. Colonnello anxiously beside him, somehow the news that the Cloud was actually immortal was still met with disbelief. The fact that the curse being removed ended with the cloud now randomly dying was somehow worse than the absolute agony he experiences as he aged.  
Verde had calmly explained that it was 'normal' for the cloud to die. They we're all returning to their original ages which meant their bodies experienced all their past traumas again. Colonnello really would have like to never go through COMBUSIN training again, but he was. For five years he spent every night passed out from exhaustion and waking with aching and sore muscles. Those five years passed in eight days, he did not have fun sleeping that week. Luckily since he wasn't actually doing COMBUSIN training, he was able to take muscle relaxers and pain medications. Lal had banned those for the cadets.  
"What do you think made him die this time?" Colonnello shifted his weight from foot to foot unable to comprehend the calm Verde showed at the death of their comrade.  
How long had it been?  
It was taking to long.  
Seeing the Cloud spontaneously die scared them all when they saw it. He was never showed any Ill side effects, didn't even know he died sometimes but he could see that everyone kept a closer eye on the cloud.  
"That depends." Verde crouched down beside the Cloud and shined a pen light in his eyes, there was no reaction. Verde picked up the hand curled up in front of the Cloud's face and then let it fall limply. He tried to uncurl thin fingers but they barely laid flat for a second before curling again. Colonnello dropped to his knees beside the Cloud to rest a hand against his cheek.  
It was cool, he pinched the skin of Skull's cheek but it didn't blanch. Verde didn't show any signs that he cared about Skull dying. What was the longest time he'd stayed dead?  
"What's going on?" Whispered a voice dangerously into his left ear. Colonnello turned to see Reborn, eyes shaded as he peered down at Skull.  
Colonnello swallowed as he vaguely noticed the downward turn of his lips looked eerily like the one Skull had before screaming at him.  
"He died... Nine minute-" a hand on the collar of his shirt yanked him away and suddenly Reborn was on his knees putting a finger over Skull's heart. He didn't even make contact before Verde had a vice like grip on his hand.  
"Your flames can't help him this time." He stated simply them checked his watch one more and actually stepped over the Cloud to drag Reborn away.  
Seconds later the Cloud burst into flame and shot to his feet screaming as he clawed his face.  
"Run." Verde was already initiating lock down before the syllable had even finished leaving his mouth.  
A primal scream of rage followed them as they slid under the steel doors that sealed the lab down. Verde dusted off his coat and peered at the laptops he'd recklessly gone after instead of running from the raging Cloud.  
"Four minutes, under for ten, now continuing to rage with more ferocity."  
"What happened?!" Reborn barked at Colonnello slamming him into the wall drawing the attention of Fon who had just entered the basement.  


  
  
  
  
Fon heard the howl of rage and rushed towards the basement aware of the others moving above him. He reached the basement as Reborn, face twisted into snarl, slammed Colonnello back first into the wall as the screams continued behind the steel doors.  
"Skull died for ten minutes, rigor mortis set in, it's always accelerated in clouds as their flames work over time until they finally leave the blood system four hours after death." Verde lectures clinically as he sits down with his two laptops at his side and a small wrist like device in his hands. He pulled out a miniature tool set and began tweaking the device.

He seemed so unconcerned about everything around him. Always focused on technology and science, but this time around he was forced into more interactions and seeing the results were stunning to say the least. Right now, as callous as he appeared for simply stating facts, his eyes betrayed the inner turmoil that he felt. Eyes scrunched up as eyebrows drew close together while his hands remained relaxed so as to work on the device in his hands.  
He was worried.  
He never thought the Lightning would ever worry about anyone's well being. Especially Skull's.  
"What's the longest he'd been dead?" Fon pondered aloud softly as Mammon appeared with Lal behind him, both having heard his questions.  
"Eight hours, that I know of. From what Skull recalls he once spent an entire day 'unalive'. That isn't the longest though, he doesn't remember what the longest time actually is..." He peered up at them from behind his glasses.  
"His death at Byakuran's hands not with standing." Silence, heavy and suffocating fell upon them all at the reminder of their youngest member's death. Reborn released Colonnello to pull down the rim of his fedora. Colonnello adjusted his shirt but stayed silent as the screams continued on in the background.  
"Do you know if he's experiencing Flame Burn Out?"  
Everyone turned to Verde unaware as to who asked the question but all eager to hear the news.  
"Skull shows all the signs, but he was never a normal Cloud to begin with. He used to be a Sun. This could all be the side effects of reintroducing his Sun flames back into his body." Verde spoke in a stilted tone as he lowered his tools to gaze at his laptop. There was a video feed from the lab, Skull was just standing still screaming. Anytime he made a move to destroy something, Lichi or Keimen moved to intercept him. He allowed them to corral him back into the center of the room where he screamed.  
His writhing flames had no outlets and turned inwards. It wasn't the first time they'd felt Skull do this, it actually started as they began to age together.  
No one had said anything, they left the Cloud to his pain.  


This was the reason he thought pain when aging was normal. This was why he thought no one cared, they could feel the injuries he was inflicting on himself and said nothing to him.  
How many times had they failed the Cloud?  
  
  


Soon Skull was crouched on the floor rocking his self back and forth as his hands gripped his hair tightly. There were sobs interspersed between the screams but those were far and few, as if he knew tears would solve nothing and opted for the path of least resistance.  
Verde was murmuring under his breath as he pushed the laptop with the video feed towards Reborn to watch so he could get back to fiddling with the device in his pocket.  
"When can you override the lockdown?" Reborn queried glancing towards the doors that kept them from the deadly rampage. Something thin and metallic broke, a softly exhaled curse, then silence met all their ears.  
One by one everyone turned to Verde who was staring at the device he'd snapped clean in half.  
"Verde." The tone of Reborn's voice raised the hair on the back of his neck as a yellow glow began to build in his eyes. Verde tossed the device down the hall and rested his elbows on his knees to cradle his head between his palms. The angry smile on his face was at odds with the despair in his eyes.  
"The problem with Skull, is that Skull is himself. All these years and I'm nowhere near close to figuring out what makes him-" He cut his self off as he sat back removing his glasses to stare ahead blankly.  
"My lab stays on lockdown for two days, if I override it now I lose all my work that isn't on these laptops." Reborn tilted his head in acknowledgement before turning back to the video feed. Lichi was poking Skull's forehead with a granola bar.

Skull was saying something but with his head facing the ground it made it difficult to read his lips. Reborn fiddled with the settings and was able to enable the sound  
"Go 'way Lichi. Don't want food." Skull sniffled tearfully as he pulled farther into himself. Lichi was having none of his attitude, the granola bar was being forcibly shoved into the sulking teens mouth when he made to complain again. That startled a watery laugh out of the cloud. He quickly dissolved into tears even as he ate the granola bar.  
"I hope you don't mind that Lichi took your granola bars to feed Skull." Fon smiled apologetically at Colonnello, he simply rubbed the back of his head in irritation. He shrugged and looked towards Verde who had yet to put his glasses back on. His eyes moved from left to right or moved up and down without a pattern.  


Fon peered at the video feed when Skull stood up and began pacing in a small circle. Agitation clear in every line of his body. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest as he paced in a tight circle, whipping around as he reached one end of his imagined area.  
"Breathe, breathe. No one can touch Skull-sama if he doesn't allow it." His voice cracked as he crouched down burying his face between his knees. Lichi was shoving a water bottle at him, Fon wished his companion would leave the unstable Cloud alone.  
"Go away Lichi." Skull begged bowing down so the his forehead was pressed to the floor.  
  
  
  
  
Skull just wanted to be alone. He was suffocating in his own skin. Everything itched.  
Everything burned, but it wasn't painful. Nothing hurt like before.  
His heart thudded in his chest violently. His breathing hitched as he moved his hands to press against his chest.  
The water bottle prodded his temple, Skull swallowed down the bitter feeling at the memories Lichi was stirring up. He couldn't know that Skull's mother used to do the same thing to him when he fell ill and just would not eat.  
No one knew that Skull had to be force fed all his young life due to constantly being sick. No one knew how Skull's mother, beautiful and broken, did everything in her power to make him eat. Shoving food down his throat when he opened his mouth to whine. Prodding his face with spoons or cookies until he smiled and reluctantly nibbled on food.

Skull missed his home.  
He missed his mother.  
He missed his papa even if he despised Skull for something he never understood.  
He missed his aunt who took him in with anger and frustration when his mother, beautiful and broken, became unstable and love so deep and encompassing twisted into hatred.  
He missed the Cirque that had taken in an amnesiac boy with purple black hair, curly sideburns and glassy blue eyes that shifted color.  
Skull felt the heartache twisting his unstable flames inwards and screamed. He screamed and screamed.  
He pushed his flames inwards, what did it matter? It wasn't the first time Flames were turned on him to inflict pain. At least if he did it, no one was trying to bend him to their will.  
  
Crying didn't solve anything.  
  
Destroying everything left him with nothing but broken bones, cuts and debt to repair what he destroyed.  
All he could do was scream.  
Screams carried all the feelings he had pent up.  
Screamed, so that even when he was silenced or deliberately unheard, he'd keep whatever sanity he had left when he'd been chained by the curse.  
  
  
When Skull had no one to call his own, he screamed.  
When Skies attempted to chain him, he screamed.  
When he lost all that he had ever known, he screamed.  
When the mafia tried to chain him he fought and screamed until he was leashed by the other Arcobaleno to learn his place.  
  
When Reborn-  
When he burn-  
When Skull reached out before becoming desensitized to the calls-  
When he burned Skull, blistering sun flames so familiar he ached and yearned, he screamed.  
Then laughed.  
He laughed when Reborn burned him.  
  
  
  
  
Reborn stared up at the ceiling of his room as Skull screamed.  
He screamed instead of raging. The Cloud felt trapped and took the option of least resistance.  
Even now he could feel the Cloud's flames twisting angrily as they were forced inwards by the Cloud.  
No one knew what was happening to the Cloud.  
What he was going through his head as he destroyed his nerves and muscles with raging flames.  
Hadn't known it was possible for the Cloud rage to be turned inwards in this manner.  
Didn't even know how long he'd been doing this for it to become second nature when he could not destroy his surroundings.  
  
No one even knew him.  
  
Mammon had reluctantly agreed to give them information that they had on Skull, charging them all of course.  
There wasn't much to go on.  
Mammon worked backwards from the time they first met the stuntman but they could only find so much. The stuntman had only become famous five years before they'd met. The circus ringmaster didn't have any paperwork for Skull, there were no records of him until his first showing.  
There were many undocumented workers, and the circus was always on the move. There was no telling when Skull had been picked up, nor where he had been picked up. Skull himself had admitted that he'd snuck into other countries and continents for work several times. For years.  
Skull confided in Mammon that he had no recollections of ever being anywhere but the circus. That made things far more difficult but Mammon was an information broker, they dove into this challenge.  
Reborn began petting Leon as the screams stopped. He glanced at the clock to see that it was now four in the morning.  
"I doubt anyone else got any sleep." Reborn sat up and began to get ready for the day.

He eyed Lal as she gripped her coffee mug like her life depended on it.  
She flinched when Skull began screaming again.  
Right, her secondary was Cloud flames. It must have made her uncomfortable to feel a cloud raging so close and turning their rage inwards.  
"Tonight the lockdown should lift." Mammon stated suddenly drawing everyone's attention. The Esper made no attempt to drink even as they stirred their spoon around their drink.  
"There's no telling when Skull's rage will end." Reborn sipped his coffee idly wondering where the Esper was leading this conversation.  
"I'm saying that, Reborn, Colonnello, stay away from him. The ones that never fail to set him off are the both of you. Verde's tests set him off, he's already stated he's done with the tests until Skull is more stable." Reborn gripped his mug tightly. He glared at the Esper even as Colonnello sputtered in denial. He was silenced by Lal's fist.  
His stomach churned at the thought of staying away.

He was always seeking the Cloud out and in turn being sought out by the Cloud. His instincts attempts to bond with a no name civilian had made him angry at the civilian which meant he took his his anger out on him. It wasn't until he saw the damn Cloud's face the first time after they were cursed that he began to hate him. Something about his toddler like face set him off. As if he missed something big in his life, and no matter how much he hated the Cloud, his flames still tried to bond.  
Now, he was being told to stay away from the Cloud for Skull's safety and everything in him rebelled at the mere notion.  
His flames which always tried to latch onto the cloud, felt disgusted when he harmed the cloud, were content to be near the Cloud. They practically sang as they were all growing up together. It was humiliating, being betrayed by his flames.  
What Skull needed, was stability, something that Reborn could not provide. That meant he had to stay away. Growing Clouds were a danger to themselves and everyone around them.  
He wouldn't be the cause of Skull's death.  
  
  
  
  
Verde watched Reborn's face as Mammon delivered the news. The loathing on his face, the pain in his eyes, the acceptance of his flames tinged with bitterness.  
Reborn still hadn't put it together. His flames constantly reaching before being redirected were trying to bond. Not as Flames of the same Sky, nor as companions.  
They were trying to bond as parent to child.  
Neither of them knew it, and yet they both tried to bond. Skull facing rejection after rejection, Reborn scorching and denying. It was a vicious cycle.  
One happily ignored by everyone. It wasn't simple blindness, but callousness on all their parts.  
  
  
  
  
Skull's face was plastered to the floor as his throat screamed at him. His voice had fallen hoarse only to be repaired within seconds. He hadn't slept at all but his flames kept him in prime condition. His body rebelled against him as his flames turned inwards, but was soothed by the next wave of flames.  
Now that he was silent and still, Lichi approached him with the biscuits he'd taken, sometime ago. Water was rolled towards his outstretched hand by Keimen.  
"Sorry." Skull felt awful for frightening the small creatures. He'd never harmed any animal or children.  
yet here he was, lying in the floor having frightened two.  
"Lockdown complete." Skull sighed softly turning so his right cheek was on the floor and peered at the steel doors. The bed was imbedded into the wall beside the left, it wouldn't be able to open all the way.  
"Do you need to be sedated?" Verde asked calmly as he brushed aside the plaster and fragmented plastic on his desk to set his laptops down.  
"What's happening to me?" Skull cried softly using his left arm to covers his eyes. His make up was definitely smudged now. He had to hide. He needed to hide. No one could see his face! Mama hated it. Papa hated it. Auntie hated it. They'd hate it too.

Skull flinched when he heard the scuffing of a shoe beside his head. Something small with a quarter pound of weight was set down beside him. Then a metallic tray was set down with a small clink as trays rattled on it. A hand gently pressed on top of his then the presence was gone.  
He peeked through his arm to see a small note. 'You owe me Strawberry milk and those Belgian chocolates I like.' was written in neat loopy cursive.

Skull hid his face again as warm tears slid down his cheeks. He whined hating the cloying feeling of sadness choking him.  
He missed Viper.  
He missed late nights learning about flames.  
Rulers smacking his hands when he was learning etiquette and made a faux pas that wasn't acceptable.  
He wanted out of this mansion.  
He didn't know what he'd do but he wanted to be anywhere but here.  
There was only suffocating, fear.  
And piercing loneliness.  


  
  
Verde froze when Skull let out a low long whine like an animal wounded and in pain but uncomprehending as to what was wrong.  
Skull didn't move, but everything about him seemed wounded. Verde peered down at the wristlet he'd broken two nights ago. He set it aside and looked at the results of Skull's last tests.  
There was absolutely nothing he could do in this moment.  
Did he even want to help?  
Emotions were messy things.  
Especially when it came to Clouds.  
Verde shrugged off his lab coat and walked over to the younger teen. He tossed his lab coat over the cloud and sat back down at his desk leaving the Cloud in peace to sort out his emotions.  
  
  
Mammon read the text Squalo sent in regards to the esper's squad. Well behaved and facing the wrath of the small storm in their midst. It seemed he had tired of waiting for Mammon and was terrorizing every single mist and storm in their division. Xanxus was brooding heavily, Belphegor didn't listen to Squalo or Levi and Lussaria was away on a mission.  
"Mammy!" Belphegor greeted with glee as someone cried out in pain in the background. Mammon wouldn't admit out loud that he'd missed the sound of all of their voices. It settled a weight in their chest.  
"Mu, Belphegor why don't you play with the prisoners instead." Mammon could feel the pout as Belphegor sighed. There was a moment of silence before the phone went sailing through the air.  
"Something is going to go down. Keep your eyes peeled." Xanxus ordered sharply before hanging up. Mammon had a feeling it was about Skull.  
Since the curse ended and slightly before, many events had revolved around the inverted Cloud. He'd been the cataylst for many changes.  
What change would be coming next?  
  
  
  
  
Reborn glanced over Verde's shoulder and froze. He grabbed the scientist by the shoulder spinning him around. The damn scientist had the nerve to stare at his hand before brushing it away.  
"What is this?" Reborn growled, his flames twisting angrily as Leon transformed in his hand. His skin tingled unpleasantly as his flames rose with his anger. Verde relaxed leaning into his chair as he removed his glasses. He looked down taking his time in wiping the lenses, each second he took infuriated Reborn.  
"It's exactly as it looks. As a world renowned Hitman, you can spot the tiniest details and yet you missed dyour own son beneath your nose." Verde replied smugly.  
  
Reborn was being restrained by Colonnello and Lal. Verde's face was bloodied and bruised but he still had a damn smirk on his face. Fon was beside him holding his face between his hands. Blood coated his hands as he pushed Verde's nose back into place. Verde slipped on his cracked glasses and accepted the towel Fon handed him.  
"What happened Reborn." Fon demanded keeping Verde behind him. Colonnello and Lal had yet to release him but he was no longer actively struggling against them.  
"Verde thought it would be funny to tell me that I have a son." Fon frowned glancing at Verde from over his shoulder. The taller scientist simply handed him his laptop, screen cracked, keys missing but still functional. He clearly defended it with his body.  
"This is..." Fon looked up in shock meeting his gaze head on.  
"This says... Skull is..." Fon peered at his hands in bewildered amusement when he saw the laptop was simply gone.  
"He's your son, of course he is." Mammon stated exasperation coloring their voice. Lal shot Colonnello a look and made her way to Mammon's side to look at the laptop. Her face blanched as he shot Colonnello a look loaded with many meanings.  
"Who's going to tell Skull? Kora!" Colonnello stumbled away from Reborn as he raised a hand to his head.  
"Tell me what?" Whispered a timid voice. Everyone turned towards the lab entrance to see Skull holding a chilled mug and a plate with cookies.  
Skull wavered between leaving and entering the lab when he caught sight of Mammon.  
"Skull, do you know who your father is?" Mammon asked without preamble catching everyone's attention. The Cloud frowned as he tilted his head to the left.  
"Papa was Pietro Luka." Skull answered promptly, Mammon was beside the cloud an instant.  
"You told me you didn't remember anything!" The Esper hissed in betrayal, Skull's eyes widened in shock.  
"I didn't! I only remembered last month when I turned eleven again!" He cried out shoving the cup and plate at Mammon.  
"Your mother?!" The Esper prodded desperately, something about the Cloud's past stirred the Mist into a frenzy.  
"Aurora Luka... Wait... No." The cloud looked confused as he mouthed Aurora under his breath a few times. Skull looked up paling as his hands trembled.  
"Quinn. Aurora Quinn." He was gasping for breath as he flinched at Reborn's movement.  
"Describe her!" Reborn barked, Skull was lying! She would have told him. She wouldn't just disappear like that knowing that he wanted a family.  
He couldn't be like his father, beating his son at the slightest provocation.  


They were going to raise a son in Italy after Reborn retired.  
This wasn't his son!  
  
  
  
  
Skull was afraid, but Reborn looked as if his whole world had been ripped away this was worse than when Luce died. Skull's heart ached in sympathy for him. Did he know her?  
He licked his lips nervously and nodded his head.  
"She had waist lenth dark purple hair, the tips we're lavender. Her eyes were light blue." The look of anguish of Reborn's face startled him. There were actually tears in his eyes as he released his hold on his gun transforming Leon back into a chameleon.  
"She had a beauty mark under her left eye." He gestured to the tear drop he'd drawn on his face.  
"She liked to sing and dance, it was like she was floating.  
Skull froze as he caught sight of Lal's horrified look and something clicked in his mind.  
"She was a rain... She went through Flame Burn Out..." Skull whispered horrified that he hadn't known. He drove her over the edge, had to be taken away from her for his own safety. He hadn't stayed away and sent her into a full meltdown that required the attention of the men with chains.  
Vindice.  


"Wh-what happened to her?" Reborn's voice cracked as he leaned back into Colonnello's hold when he swayed on his feet.  
"It was an accident... I didn't know." Skull pleaded for them to understand. Reborn's eyes turned yellow.  
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" He roared in anger, Skull doesn't know how Reborn knew his mom but he obviously didn't hold Skull in the same regard. Skull swallowed past the lump in his throat.  
"Auntie and Papa told me to stay away... I didn't. Mama... She... It didn't hurt, I told them it didn't hurt. No one would listen, Mama was in a lot if pain. She'd been in pain for long time." Skull pleaded, he didn't want Reborn to hate him anymore that he already did.  
"Papa tried to take me away, she wouldn't, she couldn't lose anymore she said. She attacked him... He died... And then the scary man came. 'For your crimes we have found you guilty of murder with no remorse shown. You're a danger to those around you, we have been warned of your deterioration. We sentence you to death.' they said and then Mama tried to fight them. She didn't want to leave me, and she was so scared. I hit the scary man but he pushed me away... Mama flew into a rage and then she was gone. She didn't bleed, or look hurt." Skull was aware if the tears running down his cheeks as he heard himself speaking in a distant detached sort of tone. He felt like he was reliving that day over and over again.  
He could still see Mama reaching out for his hands as a bandage hand released his shirt with one hand while the other threw a chain at her piercing her chest. Her light blue eyes glowing and sparking with rage was snuffed out. Her knees giving out from under her, long hair flaring out as she fell forward. Skull landing on his feet and pushing himself towards her only to end up crushed by her weight and feeling her muscles spasm and twitch as a gurgling noise escaped her throat. Her hand came to rest on his cheek as she smiled oc elast time before she faded.  
  
  
  
  
The haunted look on Skull's face was mirrored by Reborn as he knees gave out. Skull stared off into the distance with a soft grief filled look. His shoulders slumped down as his hand right hand came to rest in his right cheek. He shook his hand lowering his hand as he turned to look at Reborn.  
"Did you know my mother, Senpai?" Skull's voice quivered over the word mother but otherwise remained strong. Verde knows he looked a sight, Reborn had not taken well to his remarks regarding his skills. Despite that he pushed forward gaining the Cloud's attention.  
"Skull, you realize that Pietro isn't your real father right?" He started knowing that he had to lead the Cloud to figure this out on his own.  
"I realize that now." Skull muttered sarcastically as he wiped his tears off his face careful to not smudge his make-up.  
"He didn't like me for some reason even when Mama told me he would. I met him when I was four, and his last name didn't match mine." Skull looked confused as he slowly began to piece together the clues.  
"I know who your dad is." Skull moved closer to him under Mammon's gentle prodding and reached for the laptop. His brows drew close together as his eyes scanned the DNA comparisons.  
"But that says it's a fifty percent match." Skull's looked up and leapt back when Mammon made to wipe off his make up.  
"Skull, take off your make up." Lal ordered as she marched forward and ripped the moist towel away from the Esper. Skull bristled and actually hissed at Lal when she took the towel to his face. He tried shoving her off as he complained the whole time. His shoulders were hunched tightly to his ears as his Make up free face met theirs. He looked a lot like Reborn, the tilt of his brows, the shape lips, his cheek bones but he had a beauty mark under his left eye where the tear drop had been.  
Exactly where he described his mother's to be.  
"Why did you do that!" He spit out angrily fists clenched around his sleeves. That glare was the same one Reborn had given Verde.  
"To confirm who your father was- is. It's Reborn." Verde stated blandly watching the cloud lose all defensive posturing. He broke out into a wide grin and rushed up to Verde.  
"You told a joke! I thought you'd cause a zombie apocalypse before that everyone happened!" The cloud laughed as he threw an arm around Verde's shoulder. Verde let him be for the moment as he light tugged the hair near Skull's cheekbone. It was curled slightly, Skull slapped a hand to his cheek. Verde knew Skull would deny, deny, deny until he could run.  
"Aelius." Skull froze, his head turned to face Reborn. His devastated look said everything as he reached for the Cloud with his flames. The Cloud, blind to the reaching of flames, shot him a terrified smile.  
"Senpai... How do you?" Reborn removed his fedora and placed it over his chest.  
He remained on the floor likely unable to stand due to all the shocks and wanting to comfort Skull in anyway that he could.  
"She said if we had a son, she'd name in Aelius. And if we had a daughter I'd name her Aureole." Skull's smile fell and all expression in his eyes faded away leaving an empty void. A cold smile stretched across his thin lips as he pulled his arm away from Verde.  
"The Great Skull-sama will show you a magic trick!" He declared raising his hand to the air. He twirled his wrist and sharply jabbed his index finger at the floor, there was silence for all of an instant before the ceiling fell to pieces around them. A tentacle wrapped around Skull and he pointed upwards.  
"I always was a bad magician!" He cried out as he was pulled out of the lab.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually getting popular pretty fast.


	6. When The World's Not Perfect, When The World's Not Kind, If We Have Each Other Then We'll Both Be Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xanxus was outside the Arcobaleno's Manor waiting with a pack filled with all the essentials if one of his were to go on the run.  
> Enma peered at the notebook he had when he'd been Skull's representative and wondered again if he should go to his new residence and bring him something. That was what all the others that bonded with the Arcobaleno were doing. But every time he worked up the courage to go, always a mile away before he remembers Skull's fixed smile.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyric: if we have each other- Alec Benjamin Nightcore version.

The world narrowed down to this one moment. Skull didn't feel anything.  
Anger.  
Sadness.  
Disbelief.  
Nothing.  
Just an empty void that stretched onto eternity.  
He needed to leave. Now!  
Skull could feel Oodako anxiously moving towards him and smiled. No need to let anyone in on his inner turmoil.  
He stepped away from Verde, walked closer to the area he could feel the squirming ball of protective rage.  
  
"The Great Skull-sama will show you a magic trick!" He announced grandly gesturing to the ceiling. He paused for dramatic effect then stabbed his finger to the ground. He saw their surprised faces morph into ones of disbelief as the ceiling rained down on them all. One of Oodako's tentacles curled around him possessively. He patted the tentacle as he stepped onto the end and then pointed upwards seeing the realization dawning on their faces.  
"I always was a bad magician!" Skull shouted pointing upwards as he was pulled through three floors until he was on the main floor.  


Skull had no worldly possessions to call his own, just Oodako. The second he was out of the lab he was shooting for the door with Oodako shrinking down to size to wrap itself around his head. He abandoned the slippers and ran barefoot out the door.

Time was of the essence and he had speed on his side.  
The only one that could possibly catch him was Fon, who went through a recent growth spurt and could not walk more than a few steps before stumbling.

He made that his advantage and flicked his arms out on either side of his body flicking and twirling his fingers around. Oodako copied his movements and threw out six of their eight tentacles and began grabbing anything and everything it could reach. Everything was used to create a blockage, couches, bookshelves and tables. All of it was thrown around behind him until he reached the door. Oodako ripped the door off it's hinges and slammed it diagonally through the doorway with enough force to shatter a corner. It'd hold long enough for him to reach the gates as he poured everything he had into speeding up.  
  
  
  
Xanxus peered at the Arcobaleno mansion with disinterest. His intuition screamed at him that now was the time. He watched the door fly off it's hinges only to be caught by a giant red tentacle. Then someone was racing towards him. Someone with purple hair and an octopus covering their head like the helmet that never seemed to leave their head.  
The Cloud Arcobaleno, Skull De Mort. The one never that bonded, leaving forces decimated from their attempts.  
Xanxus had attempted to court the Cloud once, only to realize the Cloud had become desensitized to reaching flames. He tried the old fashioned way but there was no recognition in his flames or eyes. He drifted away untethered and apathetic to the world around him.  
Xanxus watched the cloud slow down slightly but never stop as he approached. Xanxus picked up the survival pack he made each of his elements carry whenever they went on a mission. He tossed it to the Cloud feeling the rage building up as his flames bristled. The rage faded to confusion as he accepted the bag and ran past Xanxus throwing looks over his shoulder every few seconds.  
Xanxus pulled out his guns and shot at the mansion when the door was broken through. Xanxus would buy the cloud a few moments until he reached the vehicle Xanxus had left behind with the keys still in the ignition.  
He stopped shooting when Mammon appeared at his side.  
"Leave the Cloud trash." He ordered coldly holstering his guns as he turned to leave. He had a meeting to get to.  
Without pausing or even slowing down he unholstered his gun and shot behind himself to the left of Mammon.  
  
Reborn slid to a stop at beside Mammon. He ignored the charred ground to gaze at Xanxus' back.  
"I can't help you Reborn. My sky has made his decision, leave Skull be." The Esper spoke softly with the barest hint of sorrow in their voice as they floated back to the mansion.  
  
Reborn was left to stand alone by the gate having missed his chance.  
  
He was left crushed by the weight of his guilt and sorrow.  


"I see now, how Bermuda knew about this." Verde began as he tested his nose for anymore bleeding. "He was there when Skull's mother had to be put down." Verde peered down at the hole in the floor that lead to his labs.  
  
Oodako was truly a force to be reckoned with.  
Especially in regards to Skull's safety.  
  
"Oodako followed Skull's command without even seeing his hands move." Colonnello said faintly eyeing the hole with fear and the beginnings of awe. Verde lowered the towel in his hand to look at him before cursing as he realized the truth of Colonnello's words.  
"Oodako doesn't need to see Skull's fingers. He tricked us." Lal sounded impressed as she kicked a piece of wood out of her way. Fon was perched on a fallen bookshelf with his elbows on his knees and forehead pressed to the backs of his hands.  
The way the storm had leapt after the cloud and burned through the obstacles thrown at him had given Reborn the chance to get ahold of his self and run after the fleeing Cloud.  
  
  
"What is the right choice here?" He queried grabbing everyone's attention.  
  
"It was agreed that we'd all go our own ways once we returned to our original ages. I didn't sign up for a lifetime with any of you." Verde said leaving the room without a backwards glance.

  
Fon was interested in hearing everyone's opinion. They had at least three weeks worth of waiting left and yet Skull had run out into the world. Though out of all of them, Skull and Reborn would be alright if they left. He'd never seen the Cloud come down with illness and Sun's didn't get sick.  
  
"I'm going back to CEDEF. I have a certain idiot that needs to be brought to heel." She growled curling her right hand into a fist. Right, the lion of Vongola. He did need to be brought down.  
  
  
  
"My contract with mafia land is up. I don't really have anything to do." Colonnello looked down, face twisted with guilt.  
"I've messed up, Kora." He whispered solemnly walking to the bookshelf. He bent down and picked up a mauve colored book written in Hungarian. It was Skull's book, or rather a copy of the book that he had destroyed. The Cloud had been so devastated that he couldn't even be angry. He'd simply stared at Colonnello tears in his eyes as he held the remains of the book. It was the first time the rain had felt bad.  
  
Skull vanished for two years.  
  
Ignored their summons.  
  
For all intents and purposes he'd become a ghost.  
  
Mammon had charged him four times the amount for information on Skull. He hadn't had that kind of money on hand and worked for it. Yet, when he returned he was charged four times that amount. Each time he was charged more and more until he received the message and left the Cloud alone. Instead he hunted down a copy of the book, finding out he'd destroyed a first edition of a set of ten. The cost equalled all the money he'd saved up.  
  
Colonnello looked up when the book was gently pulled out of his hands.  
  
"This was Aurora's favorite book. She loved fairy tales."  
Colonnello remembers now, Reborn had actually comforted the Cloud over the destroyed book. He helped Colonnello find the replacement after trying to beat him to death.  
That was when they had learned the book had been given to him by the Vindice. He'd been clueless about their identity when he told them the story about the book.  
  
Colonnello watched Reborn hug the book to his chest with grief written in every line of his face. The twenty years old looked younger then he appeared to be. This wasn't Reborn, greatest hitman in the world. This was a broken young man who lost his entire world because of a lifetime of lies and thoughtless actions.  
"I'll help you look for Skull... If you want any help, Kora." Reborn drifted away without a word.

  
  
  
  
His beautiful Aurora was gone.  
She had a son.  
His son.  
And she'd left him behind.  
Left them both behind.  
Why did she leave him? They had a plan.  
Reborn would finish his contract with Vongola and he'd retire. Get a normal job to support them.  
Then on the day his contract was up, he went home and found all her belongings packed. A simple note that said she cherished their time together but she would not wait for him.  
She was gone leaving only the scent of lavender and rain.  
Reborn entered his room and opened the desk drawer. He opened up the bottom and pulled out an old but beloved photo creased with age.   
Reborn with his hands on Aurora's waisy twirling her in the air with a sappy lovestruck look on his face. Her buttercream yellow dress flaired out as she was held up to the sky. Aurora had her head tilted back eyes close, mouth frozen open as she laughed. One hand on Reborn's shoulder while the other rested in her fedora, keeping the wind from sweeping it away as her hair fanned out around them.  
Her final gift to him, the only thing he had for years until now.  
  
  
  
Mammon felt the crushing weight of uncertainty fall on their shoulders. This information they discovered and never told the hitman about. Back when they first began digging up information on everyone. They'd kept it hidden away for nearly forty years.  
Information was money.  
Money was safer than people. Could never betray them.  
Yet, Skull always managed to slip under their walls. His family had been stolen from him.  
How was Mammon's going to tell Reborn that Vongola had destroyed his life.  
That a mist had brutally torn apart a kind young woman's mind for refusing to abandon the love of their life and was forced to leave.  
How can Mammon tell Reborn that Aurora had fought against conditioning to try and return to him only to be scorched by Timoteo until she shattered.  
She had been pregnant and forced to flee for her life.  
  
Mammon didn't know how to tell Reborn, had never thought they would need to. But now? Well, Reborn needed answers as to why he lost everything.  
  
  
  
  
Enma peered at the Arcobaleno mansion idly eyeing it from afar.  
The small Cloud that he'd allied himself with still on his mind. He'd heard that Xanxus of the Varia and Tsuna would bring things for the Arcobaleno they'd bonded with. His famiglia, didn't have the resources to give Skull anything. But Skull loved to read.  
Enma had several books he wanted to give the Cloud, yet he couldn't.  
  
'Thank you for representing me, i owe you more than what I've given you. You don't have to force yourself to continue seeking me out.'  
All Enma could hear was that Skull that he wasn't worth anything and was breaking off their alliance to avoid further heartbreak.  
Enma left the road and wandered back to the car.  
  
  
Adelheid glanced at Enma, taking in his slumped shoulders and forlorn expression.  
He didn't go. Again.  
He slipped into the passenger seat opening the glove compartment and pulling out a well loved notebook. 'TOP SECRET PLAN. ENMA K. SKULL D.M.' was written on the cover. Inside was an unholy mix of languages.  
  
Adelheid had the true plans while that notebook contained false one used to trick the other Arcobaleno. Skull was a skilled tactician, gifted in subterfuge and psychological warfare. It was a shame he hadn't had the opportunity to shine.  
"The meeting with the Varia is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon." Enma caressed the cover of the notebook as he flipped it open to the first page. A drawing of Skull on the first page, Enma on the inside cover.  
"Am I doing the right thing? Giving him space?" She didn't know what to tell him. The disrespect shown towards the small child had been horrifying to witness. The acceptance in his posture even as he defended himself spoke volumes on the abuse he faced. 

  


"I don't know." She replied seeing him slump downwards as she drove them away from the road leading to the mansion.  
"But I know you bonded with him in a way that doesn't require him to be a guardian." Enma looked at her with a deep sadness.  
"I fear he will never bond. His flames always felt damaged to me. They never reached or rejected me." Adelheid gripped the steering wheel tightly at the news.

"He's broken. The rest of the Arcobaleno are responsible aren't they?" She whispered in a horrified stupor. She didn't know how anyone could ever betray a fellow element. Julie didn't count.  
To harm one of their own completely that they were destroyed was something she hadn't thought possible. Not unless they suffered possession from a mist that forced them to go against their very being.  
How was this Cloud stable enough to still have the skills to plan a war?  
Shouldn't he have become discordant? Or suffered flame burn out?  
  
  
Verde looked at the picture of Skull wearing Oodako as a helmet. He watched the video of the cloud trading the car he'd acquired for a significantly older one. He deleted the video.  
He typed in a command onto the broken laptop and watched a screen pop up.  
"Night Protocol: Y/N?" Verde shut his eyes and hit yes. The laptop sparked and fizzled.  
Emotions.  
Messy and unnecessary.  



	7. I Loved, And I Loved, And I Lost You. And It Hurts Like Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enma stood tall and persevered in the face of fear. He was going to going to do this for Skull.  
> Xanxus was just amused that this kid that had taken on three of his elite had the guts to demand an audience with him.  
> Reborn was a shell of himself. Worse than that, he'd given up. Mammon didn't regret sparking his it by giving him a kick in face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyric: hurts like hell- Fleurie  
> Help! This fic has taken over my life! I can't update any other story because the plunnies multiply!!!  
> Back to your regularly scheduled program.  
> Also, my cat thinks it's taken over my life too. She's judging me... And literally purring on my chest to put me to sleep. Night.

Enma stood tall as he was escorted into the Varia stronghold. Adelheid and Kaoru walked two feet behind him on either side of him. Enma drew strength from the notebook he was carrying, it was for Skull. The fear that wanted him to turn away was squashed down as Enma was taken directly to Xanxus, leader of the Varia. The elite independent assassination squad that had been under his command since his early teens.  
  
He had no doubt the man was already looking done on him. His famiglia had no resources, no wealth, and was near non-existent.  
The only noteable things they had to their names were their island, their flames, and the former alliance of the Cloud Arcobaleno.  
  
They were not weak, but forming an alliance would be a joke. He knows all this, but he'd try it for Skull.  
He'd succeed because Skull believed in him and his strength. Had faith in him and trusted him enough to show him a side if himself that he knows the other Arcobaleno might not have seen.  
  
  
  
  
Xanxus was aware that he was late for the meeting with the Simon Decimo. It was unacceptable to be late to a meeting with the head of a family, but this was a test.  
Would this trash with nothing to his name but his guardians fight to be heard? Or would he stand down like the trash he was and crumble beneath Xanxus' boot.  
  


  
  
Enma wasn't surprised that Xanxus wasn't inside his office. He'd have been surprised if he was.  
Enma looked down at the notebook in his hand and nodded his head. He didn't want to be head of a mafia family. But he was, and he'd make this famiglia his.  
That meant making allies.  
It meant getting others to recognize his strength.  
It meant casting a wider net in the world than the one he had now.  
He'd become the a stable Earth to shield the Cloud running from forever reaching Skies that didn't know to leave well enough alone.  
He'd become stronger to protect his guardians from those who'd cause them harm.  
"To become the man he saw potential in." Enma murmured to the cover remembering Skull's bright childish voice ordering him to write 'TOP SECRET PLAN.' and their names. He remembers Skull sketching both of them on the first page and cover. He wrote down their strengths and weaknesses. Both being random information.  
  
Some true, some just random information used to fill in the blanks.  
  
Skull's strengths being motorcycle tricks, juggling knives, acrobatics, and eating thirty pies in one sitting. His weaknesses were listed as Oodako only able to follow line of sight commands, busted tires on his motorcycle, and tentacle porn. The dead serious expression on his face when he explained Colonnello showed it to him was something that still brought tears to Enma's eyes.  
He rubbed the tears out of his eyes as he struggled to stifle his smile. He had promised not to laugh again.  


Enma's strengths were his kindness, protective nature, right hook, and badass Earth flames. Under weaknesses, Skull had a lot of fun.  
Sad movies, separation anxiety, small animals. Puppy eyes and Adelheid scolding him.  
Enma used the notebook to hide his grin from Adelheid when she glanced his way in suspicion.  
  
Enma tensed at the feeling of bloodlust and rage behind him. He didn't turn around and shrink into himself the way he wanted to.  
"Xanxus Vongola." Enma greeted inclining his head at the other as he passed Enma.  
The red eyes stared down at him cooly as if to say 'beneath me' without actually speaking.  
Those days as 'Loser Enma' were behind him. He wasn't going to listen to them, this man wasn't going to shake him.  
He had other priorities at the moment.  


"I seek to make an alliance with the Varia." He began without preamble once Xanxus was sitting behind his desk with a glass if some type of alcohol. He very carefully did not show his distaste at the action and simply met his eyes.  
  
"Tell me trash, why should I form an alliance with a weak no name famiglia?" He asked coldly draining his drink in one go. Enma tossed Skull's notebook onto the desk and gestured for Adelheid to do the same with the plain accounting notebook.  
  
"My famiglia may not be well known, but I was able to stand my ground against three of your elite with only a handful of information on all of them." Enma paused as Xanxus flipped through the notebook labeled 'TOP SECRET PLAN' with disinterest in his eyes. That is until he saw the mix of languages, then flipped to the corresponding page in the accounting notebook.  
It was a key, to the code in the notebook.  
  
Weaknesses, strengths, observations and strategies written on every member of the Arcobaleno and their teams.  
  
It had taken hours of Skull's time to help him memorize the code but it had come in handy.  
  
"If it had been my guardians fighting along side me it would have been a different outcome." Enma continued confident that Xanxus was no longer looking down on him. He might not be an equal in his eyes but he was no longer beneath his notice.  
"The Cloud trash of the Arcobaleno is why you're seeking this alliance." He stated and everything in Enma screamed to tread carefully and answer honestly.  
  
  
  
Xanxus watched the Earth child narrow his eyes in suspicion. He could see the protective anger in his eyes at the way he talked about the cloud.  
"Skull may not be my guardian, or anyone else's for that matter. But he deserves to be protected more than anyone." He warred with himself before looking up at him with a fire in his eyes, both literally and metaphorically speaking.  
  
"Skull can't bond with a Sky or form a bond with other elements." The brat had the gall to March up to his desk and slam his hands down on top of it. "That information doesn't leave Varia. If it does or you attempt to harm Skull for this, I will bring down the Varia right on top of our heads." Enma snarled face twisted with protective fury as he went into Dying Will mode.  
  
Daring Xanxus to show the slightest hint of betraying Skull.  
  
"Well done trash. You've figured out the one thing no one else has. Skull De Mort is a Cloud that can not be bound." Xanxus smirked in amusement when the brat leaned further onto his desk. He didn't care that Squalo and Levi had burst into the room behind him.  
He didn't care that his own guardians were prepared to fight tooth and nail to defend his unguarded back.  
  
All that mattered, in this moment, was Xanxus' silence.  
"Leave." Xanxus told his second in command.  
"Voi! Levi, you heard the boss." Squalo didn't wait, he simply hauled the Lightning out of the room with a pointed glare at the guardians ready to fight at the slightest provocation.  
  
  
  
Enma didn't move a muscle as amused red eyes locked onto his.  
He still didn't have Xanxus' word that he wouldn't use this against Skull. He wouldn't hesitate to bring down the Varia. Adelheid was going to kill him for the threat already, why not add on to it?  
  


Skull's influence was definitely visible to those who knew him.  
  
"You have my word." Xanxus stated flames flaring briefly as if to acknowledge Enma. Enma relaxed and pulled his hands off the desk.  
"Not that it matters, Its something I've know about for years." Enma made a questioning noise as he accepted the notebooks pushed his way. Xanxus glared at him then nodded to his guardians. Enma put his hand behind his back flicking two fingers out before closing his hand into a fist. Two hands briefly touched between his shoulder blades before he heard the door open then close.  
  
"Vongola Nono tried to cage the Cloud Arcobaleno for his sons. I courted him as well." Xanxus served himself more alcohol. "I trained him to be quality before I took on Mammon." Enma accepted the glass proffered even if he didn't drink. From what he knows of this man, this was out of behavior for him.  
He wasn't going to like what the man would have to say.  
  
"He can't feel anymore. He has Flame Desensitization." Enma felt as if the floor fell out beneath him. This was worse than having guardian potential broken. Skull will never interact with the world.  
It will pass him by.  
He's alone.  
Without sight, sound, smell or touch.  
You could scream at him and he won't even know it.  
A cloud as strong as he is, forever drifting alone in the world.  
How lonely.  
  
  
  
Xanxus watched the color drain from the Earth child's face as he swayed on his feet. He stumbled forward to use his desk as a crutch. His eyes welled up with tears as his knees gave out. His hand blindly reached for the glass of tequila. He drank it down choking on the burn.

His tears were silent as he cried into his hand.  
"I didn't know. I didn't understand what I already knew." Xanxus could understand. He'd first thought the Cloud thought him to weak and simply didn't want to bond. It was why he tried courting him the old way by training him to be quality. Yet there was never a blip in the amethyst flames.  
  
He couldn't feel Xanxus' desire to bond or frustration.

There was just Cloud flames cocooning the Cloud as if to ward off harm.  
Xanxus could not feel any emotion or read anything off those flames and that was when he realized what had been done to the Cloud. The so called weakest of the Arcobaleno, the Civilian, had been destroyed by the other Arcobaleno and the Skies attempting to bond to him.  
His instincts had been warped so thoroughly there was no chance of ever recovering.  
All the Cloud could feel was scorching. Nothing else registered.  


"Skull is with them right now! He has to get away from them!" The small red head cried out shooting to his feet. He froze again then looked down at the glass of tequila.  
"Verde said... They were susceptible to illness more easily now that they we're growing up... They were isolated for their safety." He spoke softly with dread in his voice. He could see the pain on his face as he clenched the glass tightly in his hand.  
"He ran away." Xanxus told him bluntly, wanting to wipe that look of weakness off the brat's face.  
  
"SKULL DID WHAT?!" He shrieked breaking the glass in his hand. He whirled around and tripped over his own feet before jumping back up and rushing to the door only to have it open and smash into his face. He hit the ground again but was up in seconds as his female guardian helped him to his feet.  
"We need to find Skull, he ran away." The Simon boss ordered in a panicked undertone. "We still have the funds Skull sent us right?!" He demanded as he shoved the notebooks at her.  
"What can you do for a Cloud that can not bond? What do you have to offer him?" Xanxus asked calmly. The Simon boss paused in his frantic texting. Red eyes looked him dead on as he straightened his posture.  
"I can provide a sanctuary. And what I offer is friendship. What I offer you is the strength of my famiglia. Despite our small numbers, we are strong." Xanxus smirked at the guts on this kid. He was willing to go this far.  
  
  
  
Enma deleted the group text and sent a new one.  
'Come to the Varia. We undergo training tonight. Our only option is to succeed, these are your orders.'  
For Skull they would pass the Varia's rigorous tests and prove their worth. Only then would Xanxus fund their search for the missing Cloud.  
  
  
  
  
  
Mammon smirked at the text. The Simon famiglia was theirs. They were undergoing the trials now and their reward would be funding.  
Mammon knows they can trust the Simon with Skull. They hadn't used him and stood by his side during the representative battles.  
They gathered the reports and transported themselves into Reborn's room.  
The catatonic Sun didn't even glance at them. He simply continued to stare at the photos of the Arcobaleno after they'd been cursed, (the only picture where the cloud was without his ever present helmet.) and the one with a teenage version of himself and the woman Aurora.  
The Esper set the reports in front of Reborn but he showed no signs of awareness. This would not do.  
The kick to the face had been a spontaneous thing to do, a very Skull spontaneous thing to do.  
Definitely caught Reborn's attention though.  
"You need to read that. Your debt is now out of my hands and in Skull's. I'll be sure to collect the interest." Mammon said as they exited the room. They were not going to intrude on this.  
  
  
  
Reborn had been numb. That wasn't like him.  
He used his pain to keep fighting, had always had a reason.  
After Aurora had left him, he'd been set adrift until a kind hand lead him down a path that made him the greatest hitman in the world.  
Looking at these reports he felt nothing but rage and betrayal.  
He'd trusted Timoteo!  
And he lied to Reborn.  
He stole everything from him.  
His wife!  
His home!  
His dream!  
His SON!  
He was not going to let this get swept under the rug like everything else.  
Vongola's only saving grace, was that Tsuna was now in charge.


	8. Go Ahead And Just Hit Me Since Your Able We Know My Determination Is Unstable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skull somehow made it out of Italy alive. Better yet, he hadn't been followed.  
> Now he just had to find a way to pick up the pieces of his life after the mafia stole everything from him.  
> Again.  
> Fouth time's the charm right?  
>   
> Enma inadvertently sheds some light on something that Squalo already suspected to be true.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyric: stronger than you- frisk undertale  
>   
> Also, you finally found out why Bermuda is in the know. And how he is in the know.

Alternatively titled:  
I'm Not Even Mad Because I Keep On Dying. But I Don't Even Know Why I'm Trying  
  


Skull blearily opened his eyes to see that he'd collapsed on the side of the road having safely stepped out of the car.  
No black out, no dying, just vertigo that ended with him face down in a puddle of vomit.  
Ugh.  
"Cars. Blegh." Skull spat as he pushed himself to his knees to lean his back against the car. His face was wiped clean and a water bottle was presented to him as his hair was smoothed down.  


"We decided on Finland right?" Skull asked climbing to his feet. "Or was it Iceland?" Skull groaned as he clambered back into the older vehicle to pull out the map Mammon's Sky had given him. Skull studiously ignored all the locations with bunkers and numbers written down. He accepted the help, to a point. He didn't want to he tied down to anyone.  
He was thankful for the training the Sky had given him all those years ago and the pack he'd given him two days ago. But he was not going to reach out to him for more help. He didn't want to have a larger debt to repay.  
He was getting out of this life after having it taken from him again and again.  
And again...  
Fourth times the charm right?  
Bermuda said he was free.  


He just had to figure out what that meant.  


  
Hopefully it didn't mean working for Bermuda as he did those two years he had away from the others because the last thing his mother left him was destroyed. Come to think of it, didn't Reborn actually comfort him for that?  
And actually beat up Colonnello.  
  
And found a replacement that he left behind because it didn't have his mother's perfume on it.  
  
  
"Wait, I distinctly remember saying either Finland or Iceland. I never said Greenland... You're a genius Oodako!" Skull exclaimed at the pencil pointing to Greenland when his cheek burned slightly. He glanced up into the rearview mirror. Huh, his tattoo was back. Now he didn't have to keep drawing the teardrop tattoo on.  
"Gah! Stop getting sidetracked Skull! Oh... Wait... Now I can't go by Skull." Skull sighed heavily as his fingers drummed across the dashboard in thought. He had to hide in plain sight with massive cloud flames that colored his eyes and hair purple.  
  
" _Mafia._ " The cloud muttered in furious disgust as he realized even now he was still going to be pursued.

No one was going to let a cloud that strong go untethered, no matter his reputation, even as weakest Arcobaleno. How had his reputation for decimating entire factions of Pursuers gone under the radar this whole time?  
Especially if it was Pursuers?  
All Flame actives were afraid of Pursuers almost as much as they feared Vindice.  
Pursuers near broke flame actives for the Sky that paid for their services.  
It was the reason Reborn always pushed him to join a famiglia. In a sadistic, roundabout way he cared.  
"Oodako... Senpai always looked out for me." Skull felt his nose begin to warm and his eyes burned just the slightest.  
  
Skull had a father.  
  
_A hand rested gently on his shoulder murmuring that it was okay to cry. That he was not at fault for this and had every right to be upset. He felt safe, even though he was usually tormented by this man. ___  
  
And that father was Reborn.  
  
_"And always, always respect women. If they say no, then don't pursue them. Sex is nothing to be ashamed of, meaning you shouldn't take advantage of anyone or allow yourself to be taken advantage of." ___  
  
Papa had despised him because he was a reminder that Mama was in love with someone else.  
  
_Papa was glaring at him as he sat at the table. Aelius felt like an intruder in this new home. He didn't like it. ___  
  
That Mama had runaway from her family and marriage to be with someone else.  
He had never physically harmed Skull.  
  
_"Leave my sight, I don't want to see or hear you." Papa spoke in a cold voice that matched the frosty look in his eyes. He was looking down at Aelius as if he were beneath him and it made him feel so small._  
Mama was staring apathetic to the world around her. __  


But Skull couldn't trust him. The day he died had been the closest he'd ever come to harming Skull.  
  
_"I warned you to stay away from her!" He snarled lunging for Aelius with his arms outstretched. Mama roared and tackled him to the ground, blood splattered onto Aelius' face. He flinched back at the warm fluid that viciously landed on his face but was already running to his mama. He could hear her screaming and knew that he had to stop her from hurting herself in this state._  
He could take the pain, he healed fast. __  
  


____Skull whined low in his throat as tears slid down his cheeks. Mama said he was loved. And she loved him as much as she hated him. Good or bad days she took care of him when he was ill.  
Skull rested his head against the steering wheel and pushed down on the gas hard. Oodako jerked the steering wheel to the side causing them to swerve to the left. Oodako gently eased Skull's foot off the gas and gently wrapped him in a full body hug.  
Skull laughed and choked down the bitterness welling up deep inside him.  
He only had Oodako, and Oodako only had him.  


  
"You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine..." Skull's breathing hitched as he felt the world fade away into oblivion as he died.  
He gasped into Oodako's hold wanting to scream and cry. He did neither, he lay limply in the backseat and looked at the map Oodako held to the roof of the car.  
All he could do now, was breathe.  
  
  


  
  
His body had given up. It was agony. All he could do in this moment was breathe.  
"Is that all? I expected more from you." Enma opened his eyes slowly moving his hands as if to push himself up. He curled his fingers ignoring the cramping and then yanked. Hard.  
  
There was an almighty crash as he brought down the roof on his opponent. All he could hear was wheezing, rock crumbling and someone clapping slowly. His cheek burned from when he'd been grazed by a knife earlier as he turned his head slightly to see a blonde haired man with brown eyes and a scruffy beard.  
As the man drew closer, Enma's vision, already blurred at the edges, began turning grey.  
He made one last move before the world was gone.  
  
  
  
Xanxus growled as he followed Squalo to the Rain division that Enma was taking the final legs of his test in. Iemetsu had no right to barge into the Varia.  
Especially when they were conducting the gauntlet on new recruits!  
The blue metallic door slid open just in time for him to witness several tons of concrete, steel and several test dummies ram into the fool with all the rage and prejudice only someone seeking vengeance could muster.  
  
Xanxus was slightly impressed.  
  
"Get the trash to the infirmary and check on his guardians." Xanxus was going to see how long it was going to take the Young Lion of Vongola to pull himself out of this mess.

After all, he'd seen the man layer his body with lightening flames just before impact.  
  
  
  
  
  
He was slung across someone's shoulder.  
  
The floor was swaying with every step taken.  
  
He curled his fingers into the material beneath him causing the one carrying him to slam face first into the floor due to the sudden increase of gravity.  
  
Enma wasn't done with that man.  
  
Everything in his heart screamed at him to take that man out.  
He clambered to his feet and made it about a foot away before the world spun dangerously out of control. His shoulder spiked with pain when he hit the corridor wall, his knees gave out jarring his focused gaze away from the metallic blue door. An arm slung across his chest kept him from falling to the floor.  
  
"Leave it. Pick you battles." Enma's eyes burned with unshed tears and all he could do in this moment was breathe.  
Even though it was agony.  
His heart ached.  
He knew that this was not something he could pursue. Not with his weakened state.  
He had to leave this in Xanxus' hands because he was too weak.  
"You've proven your quality, we don't abandon our own unless they deserve it." Enma heard those words as if they were coming from far away and idly wondered what qualified as deserving to be abandoned.  
  
  
  
Squalo looked down at the small Earth flame teen when he went limp in his hold and glanced back at the Rain division. He knows that these two had never met, and yet everything in these Earth Flames screamed rage and vengeance even if the red head himself didn't know why. Was the Young Lion of Vongola truly responsible for the murder of the Kozato Famiglia?  
He knows better than most that the ninth had done some pretty shady shit. That the CEDEF covered for. The very same organization that was being run by the idiot that was treated alot better than Xanxus.  
  
The 'adopted street Sky' taken in by the _'selfless and kind Nono.' ___  
  
Which meant the ninth by default would turn a blind eye. Just as the CEDEF turned a blind eye to any misdoings and simply cleaned up after him.

  
  
  
Skull clung to Oodako as they swam to Greenland under the cover of night. Hopefully he didn't start another strange rumor as he had twenty years ago. Being mistaken as a half human half octopus creature was not something he wanted to ever repeat. He didn't want to ever hear about 'aquatic siblings' from Colonnello in the same sentence as tentacle porn.  
"Light! Duck under!" Skull hissed as he saw a light being aimed their way. Oodako dove under quickly and movved faster under water to prevent them from being spotted. Even their outline would draw attention.  
His lungs were burning but he gamely held still as the light seached up and down the area.  
  
He couldn't die here!  
He had to live or his flames would give him away.  
After an eternity of waiting the lights finally left. Oodako slowly took them upwards to avoid giving him the bends. He barely made it to the surface before passing out.  
  
  


Skull coughed as they landed on a rocky surface. He was so tired, and he felt so weak. He could hear people calling out as if from far away. Oodako was leaving? Why?  
The last thing he heard was someone shouting 'ikkuma', which was fire? Then everything faded away as the last of his strength left him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Bermuda sat behind his desk feeling irritation as he felt the pins and needles sensation that signaled his next growth spurt. The only consolation he had was that he still had control of his flames unlike the other Arcobaleno.  
He glanced around his office trying to find a form of distraction and paused as he caught sight of the framed newspaper clippings with Skull De Mort.  
"Have you escaped yet? Hm, if he hasn't escaped by the time he's returned to his original age I'll have to have Jaeger pick him up." Bermuda plotted aloud as he viewed the other newspaper clippings and photos. It was a neat time line from his last show to his actual birth.  
He could still remember the feel of those sun flames coming from his mother as she lived a life on the run despite facing scorching and flame burn out. Her will to survive was one of the strongest he'd ever seen.  
The only reason he hadn't had her and her unborn child killed was because of the the slightest bit of pity and fascination he felt for her. He'd struck a deal with Aurora Quinn, he would let her live until she gave birth to her child. He doubted she'd carry to term in the state she was in.  
It wasn't until she was six months pregnant that she stabilized and he realized that the sun flames pouring off of her when not her own flames. They were being eclipsed by her child and healing her. Her tattered and torn rain flames were slowly being mended and Bermuda knew without a doubt that her son would be tapped as the sun Arcobaleno.  
He'd posted Jaeger to guard her knowing that the current Arcobaleno were nearing the end of their cycle and he wasn't going to allow Checkerface's plans to ruin this woman and her chance at family.  


  
"His name... Is Aelius. Aelius Quinn. My little sunshine." Aurora cooed pressing her forehead to her son's. She giggled as the baby hair curls tickled her cheeks. She hummed under her breath to soothe her fussy son before looking up to meet his gaze.  
  
"Will you look after him for me?" Bermuda looked down at the large sun flames wafting off her sun while her own gradually began to lower in power. Decision made her hopped onto her bed and placed his hand onto her son's cheek. Light blue eyes peered at him as rested his hand on Aelius' cheek.  
  
"You seem stable for now, you can look after him. But know this Aurora Quinn, the second you begin to slip. You will be taken out." Bermuda warned ignoring the sparkle in Aurora's eyes. She nodded and cupped his cheek with a wide grin.  
  
"I would expect nothing less from the Vindice." She spoke sincerely before she pulled him to her side and grinned widely as Jaeger snapped a photo.  
  


Bermuda eyed the photo with Aurora grinning widely at the camera with Bermuda in one hand and Aelius in the other. Aurora was a spirited woman despite the suffering she face. And it made her stronger for it.  
  


  
"Mama? Mama... You... You promised!" Aelius cried from underneath his mother as he began to sob in earnest. Jaeger pulled him out from under her and struggled to contain the wildly out of control sun.  
He screamed, hair getting lighter and lighter as his sun flames rose to the surface in his distress.  
He raged trying to get back to his mother, eyes turning a blinding gold. Grief filled howls echoed as Aelius refused to budge. He nearly stepped into Dying Will mode and he had enough.  
He had Jack wrap Aelius in chains and watched his purple black hair darken from the lilac it had been. Gold eyes faded to green then light blue as his eyes took on a hazy hue. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he looked down at his mother one last time.  
"Those scientist conducting experiments on flame actives, have you found them?" Bermuda demanded to know sensing that time was of the essence. Jack nodded hefting Aelius into his arms as a warp formed beside him.  
"Keep one link of your chain of him, it'll weaken his flames to keep him from being noticed until these men change his flames. Once that happens have Alejandro take him away and join Small Gia and Big Pino in taking the scientist in." Bermuda order watching with satisfaction as Checkerface missed them by seconds.  
  
"Take care Aelius Quinn. The suffering you will endure is all the protect you. I will return for you." Bermuda uttered softly as he watched Aelius sleep, grief in every line of his young face. He watched until he was picked up and set into the back of a van alongside other civilians.  
  
  


"I... don't know who I am..." Aelius whispered tearfully as Alejandro pulled him away from the other civilians that survived the experiments. Bermuda considered it a blessing even as he watched light blue eyes shift from blue to green and darken slightly to another color.  
  
"Go. Do not leave them, they will protect you." Bermuda ordered watching Aelius creep forward with hesitation in his shoulders. He glanced back every few steps until someone caught sight of him and rushed to him. His injured appearance would work in insuring his acceptance and care.  
  
  
  


Bermuda rifled through his desk and looked at the folder written about Aelius, or rather Subject S:990. Strongest sun despite having some of his flames leached away by the chain link implanted under his skin. His plan had backfired and Aelius became the strongest Cloud, keeping the Arcobaleno of his cycle steady for nearly fifty years.


End file.
